Former London Mayor Says Ukraine Dysfunctional not Because of Russia

Forum Contacts RSS		RUSSIAN

RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED 23.07.2014

Ukraine is a dysfunctional and divided country with President Petro Poroshenko being unable to reunify it, Ken Livingstone, a former London mayor and a prominent British politician, told RT television.

“The simple fact is Ukraine is a dysfunctional country, it is not being brought together by its new president [Petro Poroshenko] who needs to offer reassurance both to the people in eastern Ukraine and to Russian people that Ukraine will not become a member of NATO, will not bring nuclear weapons onto its soil threatening Russia,” Livingstone said in an interview published Monday.

Kiev authorities also need to reassure residents of eastern Ukraine “that they are not in any way dominated or treated as second-class citizens. They need some sort of devolved government like we have here in Britain for our Welsh and Scottish minorities,” Livingstone said.

As of now, it looks like Kiev is not ready to make “any concessions that could bring this civil war to an end,” the Labor Party politician stated.

“Let's make it clear, Russia did not destabilize Ukraine. Ukraine has had a succession of pretty awful governments, it is a divided nation, it was put together hurriedly after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” Livingstone stressed.

Moscow just wants “a secure stable state on the border with Russia which is not a threat to it,“ the former mayor underlined.

Kiev authorities launched a special military operation in the east of Ukraine in mid-April in a crackdown on the country’s growing independence movement centered there. Hundreds of people, including civilians have died over the past months as a result of the conflict.

Moscow, which describes the ongoing military actions as a punitive operation, has called for an immediate end to the bloodshed, but despite numerous promises to initiate the de-escalation process, Kiev has so far not made any moves to stop the conflict.

Topics: East Europe, Ukraine

Other news:

Russia Planning 3 Advanced Fast-Breeder Reactors at Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant by 2030

Beloyarsk’s fifth power unit will be the first in line to get a next-generation reactor installed on-site to enable a closed nuclear fuel cycle.

Russia May Sign Agreement to Build 8 Reactors in Iran

A source close to the negotiations told journalists Thursday.

Hungary Enacts Law to Expand Nuclear Power With Russian Aid

Hungary’s president has signed a bill into law to expand a nuclear power plant in the country with Russian assistance.

Hero of the day

The ISTC Responsible Science Program and Subprogram Culture of Nuclear Nonproliferation

The dual-use nature of nuclear technology consisting in the potential for its application equally in peaceful and military sphere is the basic contradiction for the existing nuclear nonproliferation regime and comprehensive development of the nuclear power and nuclear fuel cycle.

INTERVIEW

Jerry Hopwood
We are currently working with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on this approach, which was submitted in response to their February 2012 call for alternative proposals. We appreciate that the UK is in the early stages of their policy development activities and are pleased to be involved in such important work.

OPINION

Joint Plan of Action
The goal for these negotiations is to reach a mutually-agreed long-term comprehensive solution that would ensure Iran's nuclear programme will be exclusively peaceful. Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek or develop any nuclear weapons.