Ukraine in Arabic | Ukrainian PM: Putin will never win the war
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk expressed the belief that the Russian president wanted to restore the Soviet Union and would not easily give up this idea.
"Mr. Putin, you can win the fight against the troops, but you will never win the fight against the nation - the united Ukrainian nation," Yatsenyuk said at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday.
He recalled that "Russia violated a number of bilateral and multilateral international agreements," starting with the UN Charter and ending with the resolutions on fighting terrorism that were adopted by the UN.
"We know what terrorism means. And we urge Russia to pull back its forces, to pull back its artillery, to stop to supply of Russian-led terrorists, to restore the control over the Ukrainian-Russian border, and to start real talks, peace talks," Yatsenyuk said.
He acknowledged that the military option on resolving the crisis in Ukraine was not the best one. "This should be a comprehensive approach, which comprises diplomatic, financial, political, and only at last - military options," Yatsenyuk said.
Yatsenyuk urged Russia to fulfill all 12 points of the Minsk memorandum, stressing that "this is not a menu where you can pick anything."
He also called on the international community to help bring to justice those responsible for the tragedy with the downed Malaysia Airlines passenger aircraft, which he called a "crime against humanity."
The prime minister expressed confidence that Ukraine would resume control over all of its territory, including Crimea.
"I do believe that the time will come when Ukraine will take over control in the east of Ukraine and in Crimea. I do believe that the time will come when we will turn this page, this dark page of our joint history. And I do believe that the time will come when Russians will say sorry to Ukraine," he said.
"So until President Putin will be in the office, it will be very difficult for Ukraine to take over control of Crimea," the premier said.