Russian Analyst: Ukraine on Brink of Collapse
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Russian political analyst said there seems to be no uniformity among the Ukrainian parties under current conditions, and contended that the crisis-hit country will be doomed to collapse if it avoids federalization.
In an article sent to the Tasnim News Agency, Stanislav Pritchin, an expert in the Center for Central Asian, Caucasian and Volga-Urals Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, elaborated on the latest developments in Ukraine.
Pritchin pointed to the escalating tensions in Ukraine, particularly following the bloody clashes in Odessa on May 2 that claimed the lives of more than 40 pro-federalization supporters, and stressed, “Ukraine and its society is split. We can see it from the list of presidential candidate.”
Enumerating the different candidates for Ukraine’s presidential elections, set for May 25, Pritchin explained that none of them are “acceptable for all parts of Ukraine.”
“Respectively there is no uniform ideology that can unite country (Ukraine). In such situation Ukraine is very close to…collapse.”
Russian diplomacy has now offered the only way for Ukraine to save the country’s unity to access federalization, the analyst wrote.
He explained that a “special treaty” for federalization of Ukraine can be put to the vote in a nationwide referendum, but insisted that such document “must consist a uniform list of rules” which guarantees respect for the entire “cultural, ethnic, and language differences” across Ukraine.
Pritchin also touched on the US meddling in Ukraine, arguing that “situation in southeast regions of Ukraine shows that (the) interim government supported by (the) USA (is) determined to escalate civil war in country.”
The Russian analyst’s comments followed an escalation of clashes between Ukraine’s new government and pro-Russian protesters in eastern parts of the country.
A surge in Ukraine crisis came after the Crimea Peninsula declared independence from Kiev and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation following a referendum on March 16, in which about 97 percent of the participants voted for reunion with Russia.
The move resulted in consequent pro-Russian protests in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine. Kiev accuses Moscow of supporting the protesters, a claim which Moscow denies.