Interfax: Russian senators say Kiev lacks political will to solve crisis

(Interfax – Moscow, January 22, 2013) Members of the Federation Council have agreed with the position of their colleagues from the lower chamber [of parliament, State Duma], which adopted a statement on the events in Ukraine on Wednesday [22 January].

“The Federation Council cannot stand aloof from the events in Ukraine and we express solidarity with the stance of the State Duma, which has adopted a corresponding statement,” the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Law, Aleksey Aleksandrov, told Interfax.

He said that this is an unacceptable situation when representatives of foreign countries directly intervene in the affairs of sovereign Ukraine.

“It is impossible to imagine Verkhovna Rada [Ukrainian parliament] deputies at protest rallies in the US speaking in a square in front of the White House and saying that the US president is following the wrong policy and that the US should join some African union,” Alek! sandrov stressed.

He said that mainly ordinary citizens are suffering from the situation in Ukraine and that the blood of innocent people may be shed.

At the same time, commenting on the laws passed by the Ukrainian parliament, which Ukrainian opposition activists describe as “repressive”, the senator said that the laws had been passed too late. He said that they should have been passed before riots began, not when “the going got tough”.

“The Ukrainian president is lacking the political will to put things in order and the law-enforcement agencies, professionalism. These agencies should act more decisively with radically-minded elements. Similar riots take place in the EU and in the US. In the US, police actions are tough, ruthless and fast, nipping them [protests] in the bud,” Aleksandrov said.

Another senator, Konstantin Dobrynin, for his part, said that radical opposition is responsible for the escalation of violence.

“Catapults that the opposition uses when fighting against the law-enforcement agencies look at least strange. It is absolutely obvious that the opposition leaders have lost control,” Dobrynin told Interfax.

He said that the Ukrainian authorities should keep their status quo. But at the same time, they should begin a dialogue with the active part of civil society, he added. “There is no other way of peaceful settlement of the situation apart from negotiations and dialogue,” Dobrynin said.

The first deputy chairman of the International Affairs Committee, Andrey Klimov, said that that the events in Ukraine were the continuation of a long crisis caused by the Ukrainian authorities’ inability to give a clear answer to the question of what they were going to do with the association membership in the EU.

“There were some negotiations about this but there were no clear answers on what this would bring Ukrainian society, which made the situation even more complicated. And some rogues have appeared in this muddy water! , who are trying to take advantage of the situation with a view to the forthcoming election,” Klimov told Interfax.

He said that he has a lot friends and acquaintances in Kiev and they told him they were trying to stay away from Maydan because various destructive elements were gathering there. “It is very important today that the Ukrainian president, the government and members of the ruling Party of Regions are very careful with their political course and do not yield to acts of provocation,” the senator said.

He said that for the wary opposition, any easing of the law-enforcement policy is impetus for further escalation of hooliganism aimed to destabilize the situation in the country.

“The protesters judging by their behaviour, do not think about the fate of ordinary Ukrainians or the fate of the state in general,” Klimov said.

The head of the Social Policy Committee, Valeriy Ryazanskiy, agreed with him. He said that the Ukraini! an authorities should be tougher on radically minded elements in Maydan.

“There is no place for these elements in politics. Ukraine is on the verge of collapse. And the unity of the country should be unshakable. Tough measures should be taken against radicals in Maydan, and the constructive part of the opposition should use common sense and show that they are not indifferent to the fate of Ukraine. Unfortunately, we have not seen this so far,” Ryazanskiy said.