Brussels, 24/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 24 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton called for the implementation of the 17 April Geneva agreement by all parties and the end to violence. “All parties to the Joint Geneva Statement on Ukraine of 17 April must ensure that its terms are fully implemented, including by using their leverage on illegal armed groups to stop violence and provocation and to make them hand in their arms”, she stated in a press release. She also called for the end to the violence, intimidation and provocative statements, “as agreed in the Joint Geneva Statement”.
In Ashton's view, the latest news from Eastern Ukraine, “and in particular the reported kidnappings, torture and killings, including the cases of Volodymr Rybak [a politician from the Batkivshchyna Party] and Pavel Kovelko” is “a cause of grave concern”. She called for an “independent and transparent” investigation which should shed light on their deaths and bring the perpetrators to justice. “All persons still illegally detained by armed groups in Eastern Ukraine must be immediately released, whether journalists, local leaders or ordinary citizens”, Ashton added. Her spokesperson, Michael Mann, said that the recent events are not in line with the Geneva Statement and that it appears that not all the actors are doing what is necessary.
During a conference in Brussels, Ukraine's Minister for Education Serhiy Kvit stated that it is not possible to hold a dialogue with Russia, going as far as calling Russia's President Vladimir Putin “the devil”. Underlining that dialogue is necessary, he said that this “can only take place with people who are sincere in their intentions to find a solution” and to have real results. “The dialogue with Putin is not possible from a moral and ethical point of view, and also due to the total senselessness of such an attempt”, he said, later adding that he must recognise that it is “impossible to hold a dialogue with the devil” and that dialogue is not possible because of “military intervention”. A representative from the Russian mission to the EU for his part criticised Ukraine for “making everyone bear the responsibility [of what's happening] except itself”.
Russia's Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the EU and the US of using Ukraine as a pawn in a geopolitical game against Moscow. “In Ukraine, the United States and the European Union (…) have tried to lead a new colour revolution [in reference to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine in 2004 or the Rose Revolution in Georgia in 2003], an operation of regime change, which is counter to the constitution”, he said, adding that “few serious analysts doubt that it's not about Ukraine's fate; Ukraine has simply been used and continues to be used as a pawn in a geopolitical game”. “Our Western partners, and above all the United States, are trying to behave as the winners in the Cold War, to act as if Russia could not be taken account of in European affairs, and to do things directly harming Russia's interests”, he said, quoted by Russian news agencies (our translation). (CG)