Interfax: Ukrainian ex-prime minister [Azarov] calls for new constitutional arrangement

MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) – Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov believes a new constitutional arrangement in Ukraine could be a way to overcome the ongoing crisis.

“There is the only solution, namely, a new constitutional arrangement of Ukraine. Attempts to build Ukraine’s ideology based on hatred or denial, like ‘Ukraine is not Russia’, won’t lead anywhere. It should be acknowledged that Ukraine is diverse, and the regions should be granted as many powers as possible,” Azarov said at the presentation of his book titled ‘Ukraine at the Crossroads’ on Wednesday.

Ukraine needs to hold truly free and democratic elections, “stop persecuting the opposition, stop torturing and intimidating people, and finally form a normal technical government that would conduct reforms and elections,” Azarov said.

“I don’t believe in the current leadership, I don’t believe they are capable of ending the bloodshed. They are interested in war, as war can account for anything,” he said.

“Ukrainian citizens keep on dying on both sides. I came to the conclusion that Ukraine’s normal development was disrupted each time because external and internal destabilizing forces united and in fact committed a coup. The 2013-2014 coup was a carbon copy of 2004,” he said.

“The government’s resignation was the first step toward this coup. I was naive enough to believe that, by tendering my resignation, I would open a path toward a compromise. But they didn’t need a compromise. Is the government that has come to power committed to defending Ukraine’s interests? Of course not. The rhetoric is pro-Ukrainian, but the real actions are aimed at destroying the country,” he said.

The events that have taken place in Ukraine “have disrupted colossal agreements with China and Russia,” he said.

“We were supposed to get $42 billion in loans and investment resources. Ukraine was heading toward a powerful economic surge in 2014,” Azarov said.

“I can’t understand the position of our Western partners, [including] the U.S. The U.S.’ fundamental interests should not consist in creating military conflicts. There are four nuclear power plants on the territory covered by Ukraine. Shall I tell you what facilities these are? If something happens, nobody in Europe will find it funny,” he said.

Russia’s only interest in Ukraine is to have a good neighbor, he said.

Azarov insisted that Donetsk and Luhansk belong to Ukraine, but the problem cannot be resolved by bombs.

“I see Ukraine as a country in which the specifics, mentality, customs, and culture of the population living in various regions of Ukraine are taken into consideration as much as possible. Donbas is not Galicia. You are perfectly aware of this, I have been everywhere and dealt with this ex officio. For me, both Galicia and Donbas were regions in the development of which I invested all my powers,” Azarov said when asked by the journalist whether he recognizes Ukraine’s integrity.

“In Lviv, we built a wonderful stadium, reconstructed it, and overhauled the theater. To me, both Ivano-Frankivsk and Luhansk are Ukraine. But resolving issues the way you do – using bombs, artillery shells, and tanks – I categorically oppose this,” he said.

“Ukraine is stuffed with military depots and military bases,” Azarov said. “We have so many various weapons that, however regrettable this is, we can be killing each other for a very long time. And if weapons come from abroad, this only prolongs the Ukrainian people’s suffering,” Azarov said.

Russia is not interested in having a war near its borders, he said.

Former President Yanukovych had chances to maintain order in Ukraine, but he lost heart after the killings on Maidan, Azarov said. “Yanukovych was a president and supreme commander-in-chief, in line with the constitution. He had every opportunity to maintain order in the country and not to allow what had happened over the previous year. But following the killings on Maidan, he was virtually paralyzed,” Azarov said.

“People trained to seize power were pouring into Kyiv from all sides,” Azarov said. “Yanukovych knew this, because the Ukrainian Security Service reported this every day. Once Yanukovych thought something had to be done to maintain order, there was an immediate shout: don’t use force under any circumstance. And he got it, when obviously an operation had been prepared to shoot people on Maidan, and the entire world and Ukraine itself were terrified to see this,” he said.

“It was the first time in history that over 120 people, including 26 law enforcement officers were shot in cold blood on Maidan. Yanukovych lost heart in these circumstances. And those who devised the coup had their hands untied. Groups were put together to catch him and put the Libyan scenario into practice. He was supposed to die the way Gaddafi did. I had resigned, why was my car fired at with an assault rifle? Whom did I threaten? I wasn’t in the car, my wife was in it. It’s a miracle that she survived this. Who has been called to answer for this? Why not a single investigation has been conducted?” he said.

Azarov said he was perplexed by the absence of protests from Western countries. “Has there been a single protest on the part of Western countries? Why has this slaughter on Maidan still not been investigated?” he said.

Azarov described the current events in Ukraine as a disaster. “The situation is catastrophic now: 5,800 houses, over 1,500 industrial and infrastructure facilities, schools, and kindergartens have been destroyed. More than 5,000 civilians have already been killed,” he said.

“Without considerable financial assistance, this state should mobilize all its resources for 3-4 years and concentrate them on restoring Donbas. Immediately stop fighting. Stop, don’t shoot at each other, stop these killings, sit at the negotiating table and reach an agreement,” he said.

Azarov said also that he did not recognize the current Ukrainian authorities as legitimate. “How can I consider this leadership legitimate if it came through an armed coup, accompanied its actions by monstrous crimes, is continuing a fratricidal war, and is doing nothing to end it?” Azarov said.

Ukraine can be governed only by international mediators at the present time, such as Germany, Russia and the U.S., Azarov said. “It is necessary to establish a technical government of professionals who could stop the war, work out a constitution, adopt it in a referendum, and prepare and conduct truly free and truly democratic elections. And then the leadership who comes should govern the country for five years,” he said.