The best way out of the crisis in Ukraine

The profound and pervasive crisis in Ukraine is a matter of grave concern for Russia. We understand perfectly well the position of a country which became independent just over 20 years ago and still faces complex tasks in constructing a sovereign state.

Among them is the search for a balance of interests in its various regions, whose peoples have different historical and cultural roots, speak different languages, and have different perspectives on their past and present, and their country’s future place in the world.

Given these circumstances, the role of external forces should have been to help Ukrainians protect the foundations of civil peace and sustainable development, which are still fragile.

Russia has done more than any other country to support the independent Ukrainian state, including subsidising its economy through low energy prices.

Last November, we supported Kiev’s wish for urgent consultations between Ukraine, Russia and the EU to discuss harmonising the integration process. Brussels flatly rejected it.

This stand reflected the line the EU and US have been taking for a long time, trying to compel Ukraine to make a painful and artificial “choice between East and West”.

Ukraine’s realities notwithstanding, massive external support was provided to political movements promoting Western influence. This is what happened in 2004 when Viktor Yushchenko “won” the third round of elections imposed under EU pressure.

Last February, power in Kiev was seized through violent actions encouraged by the direct participation of ministers and other officials from the US and EU countries in the protest movement.

Assertions that Russia has undermined efforts to strengthen partnerships on the European continent have nothing to do with the facts. Our country has steadily promoted a system of equal and indivisible security in the Euro-Atlantic area, advocating the creation of a common economic and human space from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

DOUBLE STANDARDS

However, Western states have carried out successive waves of Nato enlargement and moved the alliance’s military infrastructure eastward.

The EU’s Eastern Partnership programme is used to bind the so-called focus states to the Union, shutting down the possibility of their cooperation with Russia.

Attempts by those who staged the secession of Kosovo from Serbia to question the free will of Crimeans is nothing but a display of double standards.

No less troubling is their pretence of not noticing that the main danger for the future of Ukraine is the spread of chaos by extremists and neo-Nazis.

Russia favours the earliest stabilisation in Ukraine. We are convinced that this can be achieved through, among other steps: constitutional reform which would ensure the legitimate rights of all Ukrainian regions and respond to demands from its south-eastern regions to make Russian the state’s second official language; firm guarantees of Ukraine’s non-aligned status to be enshrined in its laws; and urgent measures to halt activities of illegal armed formations of the Right Wing Sector and other ultra-nationalist groups.

We are not trying to impose anything on anyone; we just believe that if it is not done, Ukraine may continue to further spiral into crisis. We stand ready to join international efforts aimed at achieving the goals of stabilisation.

We support the appeal by foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland to implement the February 21 agreement.

The world today is not a primary school where teachers can assign punishment at will. Belligerent statements such as those heard at the Nato foreign ministers meeting on April 1 do not serve the cause of de-escalation. It is time to stop the senseless whipping-up of tension.

Mr Lavrov is Russia’s Foreign Minister