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US, Russia in blame game over Ukraine
The blame game over the Ukraine crisis has reached as far as Indonesia as the US and Russian ambassadors traded accusations over whose country was more responsible for the worsening situation in the Eastern European country on Tuesday âThe Russian military deployment in Crimea is an illegal military activity,â said US Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert O
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he blame game over the Ukraine crisis has reached as far as Indonesia as the US and Russian ambassadors traded accusations over whose country was more responsible for the worsening situation in the Eastern European country on Tuesday
'The Russian military deployment in Crimea is an illegal military activity,' said US Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert O. Blake in a discussion on Ukraine at the University of Indonesia, Depok, West Java.
In a forum that was also attended by the Ukrainian Ambassador to Indonesia Volodymyr Pakhil, Blake said that Russia had threatened Ukraine's territorial sovereignty by deploying 40,000 troops on Ukraine's eastern border.
The Ukrainian revolution, which broke out in late February, resulted in the impeachment of president Viktor Yanukovych by Ukraine's parliament. The parliament then called for an interim government, which was recognized by most of the international community, including the European Union and US.
Russia, which accused the EU and US of being behind the revolution, sent its troops into Crimea as a preventive action to anticipate disorder expanding into Crimea where most of the people are ethnic Russians.
The conflict escalated as the Crimean parliament called a referendum on Crimean autonomy. The referendum, which the US deemed illegal, resulted in more than 95 percent favoring union with Russia.
Blake said that the basic principle of sovereignty and independence must be upheld everywhere. He also underlined that Ukraine's ousted president left his post voluntarily and there was no coup d' etat in the process.
Furthermore, he said the US was still waiting for Russia to call for the disarmament of pro-Russian bands and to perform other steps based on the Geneva meeting on April 17.
'There is still room for Russia to change its course but the window is narrowing,' said Blake adding that the US was ready for a peaceful settlement of the issue.
He also expressed his gratitude for the Indonesian government's stance, which did not acknowledge the referendum in Crimea.
'The US, EU, Indonesia and other countries believe there are violations of Ukraine's territorial sovereignty. I encourage all of you, future leaders of Indonesia, to speak up for Ukraine and sovereignty,' he said.
However, at the same event, the Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Mikhail Galuzin rejected the notion that Russian had violated sovereignty, and said his country had a good relationship with Ukraine and planned to keep it that way.
'There is no intention from Russia to cut ties with Ukraine. We have healthy interdependent relations,' said Galuzin. Ukraine, he said, meant a lot to Russia. This could be seen by the US$35.4 billion of Russian assistance in the last four years.
'There was no Russian invasion of the Crimea or Ukraine,' he said adding that internal conflict in Ukraine had resulted in an unconstitutional coup d' etat.
He also denied that Russia had refused to abide by the Geneva agreement and said that it was the current government in Ukraine, with US support, which violated the agreement with human-rights violations against the Russian-speaking minority in Ukraine. (idb)
