Former First President Kravchuk Calls Ukraine an Enemy of Russia
(Baonghean.vn) - The first former president of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, in a television broadcast, commented that Ukraine is Russia's "enemy" and Belarus is its "lackey".
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| Former first President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk. Photo: Ria Novosti |
Former first president of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk said: "As Solzhenitsyn (Soviet writer) said, Russia has no friends, only enemies or lackeys. Today, Russia's enemy is Ukraine, and its lackey is Belarus." Explaining his point of view, Mr. Kravchuk gave a practical example: On the day the two leaders of Ukraine and the US had a phone call, Russian President Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Lukashenko also held talks.
According to former President Kravchuk, Russia does not want to see Ukraine as an independent country, but instead wants to "destroy" the country.
Kravchuk, who is currently the head of Kiev’s delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on Donbass, has been a frequent critic of Russia. The former Ukrainian president has threatened “radical steps” if Moscow does not acknowledge that it is a party to the conflict in Donbass, and has called on Kiev to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Moscow and limit its access to international financial instruments.
According to Senator Sergei Tsekov, Mr. Kravchuk is not suitable for the role of a "dove of peace", but is an arrogant and destructive person.
Ukraine is one of the countries that Belarus accuses of interfering in its internal affairs. Relations between Minsk and Kiev have deteriorated recently. Ukrainian President Zelensky did not attend the bilateral forum in the fall of 2020 in Belarus.
Meanwhile, relations between Ukraine and Russia have deteriorated over the Donbass region. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly accused Russia of interfering in Kiev's internal affairs. In January 2015, the Verkhovna Rada declared Russia an "aggressor state" in Ukraine.
Russia has denied Ukraine's accusations and called them unacceptable. Moscow has also repeatedly stated that it is not a party to Ukraine's internal conflicts, and advised Kiev to focus on resolving the economic and political crisis.
