Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Moments after blasting what he called Russia's illegal "military aggression" of his nation,
Ukraine's interim leader insisted Thursday that a peaceful resolution that ends with
Kiev and Moscow becoming "real partners" is still possible.
"We still believe that we have a chance to resolve these conflicts in a peaceful manner,"
interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told the U.N. Security Council.
Yatsenyuk's remarks come as thousands of Russian troops staged military exercises not far from
his nation's border. And they are entirely new, given that Ukrainian
officials have previously called for talks and slammed what they say is Russia's military
invasion of their country, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied.
Still, the stage -- addressing representatives of the world's most powerful nations, Russia
among them -- makes the assertions more salient, as does the fast approaching referendum in
which residents of the Crimean Peninsula will vote whether to secede from Ukraine and join
Russia. Ukraine has been simmering since last November,
when protesters angry at the sitting government -- in part for its president's move toward
Russia and away from the European Union -- began hitting the streets. In February, after deadly
clashes between government forces and demonstrators, President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted (he
soon took refuge in Russia). With that, the focus moved from Ukraine's
west, which tends to lean more European, to its south and east, where ties to Russia are
stronger. Rising tensions have centered on Crimea, where
local officials have declared their autonomy from Ukraine and alliance with Russia, as
armed men have blockaded and taken other actions against Ukrainian military and other posts.
Tensions also have spilled over into other parts of eastern Ukraine, such as Donetsk,
where the regional health authority said a 22-year-old man was stabbed to death and at
least 10 others were injured in clashes Thursday between pro-Ukraine and pro-Russian protesters.
While the bloodshed has been limited so far, fears are percolating that this crisis could
turn into a full-scale military conflict. "We are looking for an answer to the question
of whether the Russians want war," Yatsenyuk said Thursday in Russian. "I am sure that,
as the prime minister of Ukraine, (which) for decades had warm and friendly relations
with Russia, I am convinced that Russians do not want war.