NEW YORK, UNITED NATIONS
Ukraine's Ambassador to the UN, Yuriy Sergeyev openly criticized former President Viktor Yanukovich, comparing him to former USSR communist leader Leonid Brezhnev.
Ukraine's Ambassador said he began to support the Ukrainian anti-government demonstrators on December 1st last year. He also declared that the entire staff of the Ukrainian Mission to the United Nations in New York supports this also.
Sergeyev also reaffirmed that the main direction for his country is to be associated with the European Union.
Speaking to reporters in the UN Headquarters, he said “I am grateful to the Secretary General and all his staff for the permanent support during all these days, starting from December 2nd.” He stressed that the UN “made a strong statement on Ukraine which was echoed by the High Commissioner of Human Rights (Navy Pilay) in Geneva.”
The UN Secretary General’s special envoy Robert Serry, who currently serves as the UN Special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, is on the scene in Ukraine with EU’s Foreign Affairs Commissioner, Lady Catherine Ashton.
“We are grateful that Robert Serry for the second time was in Ukraine, where he met the president of parliament (acting president of Ukraine Oleksander Turchinov),” Sergeyev said.
Last Sunday, acting President Turchinov said he was ready to talk to the leadership of Russia to calm the tensions and improve relations, but also emphasized that another Ukrainian priority is to “return to the path of European integration.”
Protests in Ukraine erupted last November after Viktor Yanukovych called off a trade pact in the making with EU, which triggered months of protests calling for the removal of the president. Yanukovich left his presidential residence last weekend.
Sergeyev also said that he does not know where Yanukovich could be hidden or whether he is still in the country. Declaring that he is not anymore representing Ukrainian government - but rather state of Ukraine and its people,
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