Former Ukraine President Leonid Kravchuk says country on the brink of civil war
Former Ukraine President Leonid Kravchuk expressed concerns Wednesday his country is on the brink of civil war.
Leonid Kravchuk in the Polish Senate photo by Michał Józefaciuk via Wikimedia commons
“All the world acknowledges and Ukraine acknowledges that the state is on the verge of civil war,” he said.
“There are parallel authorities in the country and there is a de-facto uprising,” Kravchuk told parliament members Wednesday. “It is a revolution. It is a dramatic situation in which we must act with the greatest responsibility.”
“We need to ease the confrontation between the sides and agree a plan to solve the conflict. We need to work on this plan step by step to ease the confrontation.”
Protests against Ukraine’s current president, Victor Yanukovych, have been mounting as the pro-Russia leader rejected a trade agreement with the European Union, choosing to build ties with the former Soviet country.
Yanukovych’s government responded by passing laws aimed at ending the protests, which sparked more violent confrontations with police and calls for the government to back down.
In attempt to quell the unrest, the country’s parliament repealed a package of hardline anti-protest laws that set off violent clashes in the streets.
But Kravchuk suggested Wednesday their work is not yet done.
“We need to ease the confrontation between the sides and agree a plan to solve the conflict,” he urged. “We need to work on this plan step by step to ease the confrontation.”
Leonid Kravchuk, president from 1991 to 1994, urged parliament to “act with the greatest responsibility” as it debates an amnesty for detained protesters.
