UKRAINE-CRISIS/FORUM-YATSENYUK Ukrainian PM calls on world leaders to put more pressure on Putin

Record ID: 141164

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/FORUM-YATSENYUK Ukrainian PM calls on world leaders to put more pressure on Putin
  • Date: 12th September 2015
  • Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (SEPTEMBER 12, 2015) (REUTERS) UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER ARSENIY YATSENYUK ON STAGE DURING SESSION OF 12TH YALTA ANNUAL ECONOMIC FORUM FORUM'S LOGO ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER ARSENIY YATSENYUK, SAYING: "We are eager to provide peace and stability and to de-escalate the situation. But the key thing is that everything is in the hands of President Putin. If he wants to really de-escalate the situation he is to get out of Ukraine, if no - we are to act in concert with the global community to press on him." FORUM PARTICIPANTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER ARSENIY YATSENYUK, SAYING: "And please - I want to send a very clear message to our western friends - if you send mixed signals to Putin, for example - if we contemplate an idea to leave sanctions in case if something minor happens - this is the weakness, this is the way to actually underpin and support Putin in his aggression against Ukraine, this is not the language he understands. Sanctions could be lifted only in one case - if Minsk is fully implemented, if Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea is back." FORUM PARTICIPANTS APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER ARSENIY YATSENYUK, SAYING: "Can you remind me who supports the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria? This is President Putin. Can you remind me who is building a combat base in Syria? This is President Putin. Do you realise that this is the Russian plan to destabilise an entire geopolitics? We do understand as Ukraine what refugees mean, because you in the EU have thousands of refugees, we have millions of IDPs (internally-displaced persons.)" WIDE OF FORUM IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER ARSENIY YATSENYUK, SAYING: "Russia is not fighting just against Ukraine. Ukraine is a battle field. Russian president fighting against the values of the free world. This is our joint fight for freedoms and liberties, for the free world and for the dignity of every human being." FORUM ORGANISERS AND PARTICIPANTS LISTENING YATSENYUK GETTING UP, SHAKING HANDS WITH SOME FORUM PARTICIPANTS
  • Embargoed: 27th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1058OBZXSKB6V92LZ77KJEU5E
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called on world leaders Saturday (September 12) to increase pressure on President Vladimir Putin whose politics, he said, threaten "the values of the free world".
    In an emotional speech at the 12th Yalta "European Strategy" forum in Kiev, Yatsenyuk said the key to peace and stability in Ukraine lies with the Russian leader and putting pressure on him is the only way to normalise the situation in the country.
    "We are eager to provide peace and stability and to de-escalate the situation. But the key thing is that everything is in the hands of President Putin. If he wants to really de-escalate the situation he is to get out of Ukraine, if no - we are to act in concert with the global community to press on him," Yatsenyuk said, addressing the forum participants.
    He called on Western leaders to keep sanctions in place until Moscow fully implements the Minsk agreements and suspends control of eastern Ukrainian regions and Crimea.
    "And please - I want to send a very clear message to our western friends - if you send mixed signals to Putin, for example - if we contemplate an idea to leave sanctions in case if something minor happens - this is the weakness, this is the way to actually underpin and support Putin in his aggression against Ukraine, this is not the language he understands. Sanctions could be lifted only in one case - if Minsk is fully implemented, if Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea is back," Yatsenyuk said.
    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signalled on Friday he would seek a pullout of all Russian forces from Ukraine and re-establishment of Ukrainian control of the joint border when he meets Russian, German and French leaders next month.
    Poroshenko, who meets Russian President Vladimir Putin and the two other leaders in Paris on October 2, has come under fire at home from some political allies for appearing to concede too much to pro-Russian separatists under a peace agreement brokered by the four powers in Minsk, Belarus.
    Yatsenyuk said that Putin's aim is to destabilise not just Ukraine, but "an entire geopolitics".
    "Can you remind me who supports the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria? This is President Putin. Can you remind me who is building a combat base in Syria? This is President Putin. Do you realise that this is the Russian plan to destabilise an entire geopolitics? We do understand as Ukraine what refugees mean, because you in the EU have thousands of refugees, we have millions of IDPs, " Yatsenyuk said.
    U.S. officials said Russia sent two tank landing ships and additional cargo aircraft to Syria in the past day or so and deployed a small number of naval infantry forces. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to his Russian counterpart for the second time in four days on Friday to express concern over reports of Russian military activities in Syria, warning that it could fan more violence.
    Yatsenyuk called on the world leaders to join forces in a fight for the "freedoms and liberties" threatened by Russia's politics.
    "Russia is not fighting just against Ukraine. Ukraine is a battle field. Russian president fighting against the values of the free world. This is our joint fight for freedoms and liberties, for the free world and for the dignity of every human being," Yatsenyuk said.
    The separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine erupted in April 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea in response to the toppling of pro-Moscow Yanukovich by street protests.
    About 8,000 people are estimated to have been killed and several thousands wounded in the conflict, according to U.N. Human Rights Office figures.
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