Viktor Yanukovych warned that the country is facing a complete destruction of its sovereignty amid the conflict with Russia.
The Ukrainian government is facing a complete loss of its sovereignty and, possibly, a merger with Poland, the former President Viktor Yanukovych has warned. The ex-president, who was ousted in the 2014 Maidan coup, released an extensive address on Friday in which he shared his thoughts about the root of the current turmoil and the potential fate of the country.
The ex-president believes that Ukraine's role as an instrument against Russia was outlined by the collective West long before the conflict between Moscow and Kiev broke out in late February.
In 2014, Ukraine was designated by certain Western countries as a territory from which a total weakening of Russia should begin. As a territory and not as an independent state, not as people wishing to live in peace with all its neighbors, not including Russia, Yanukovych stated.
He went on, saying that the current conflict could have fatal consequences for the country. Yanukovych believes that Ukraine risks not only losing vast territories in its south and east but also a complete destruction of its sovereignty.
The Ukrainian authorities' efforts to cozy up to the country's western neighbor, Poland, are a cause of the military conflict itself. Earlier this month, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hopes that the two countries would no longer have a border, while Kiev announced plans to grant special legal status to Polish citizens.
The strengthening of ties will not bring Ukraine's purported European dream closer, but rather threatens a merger with Poland, Yanukovych warned.
Russia attacked the neighboring state after Ukraine s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists that the Russian offensive was unprovoked and has denied it plans to retake the two republics by force.