The UMP president added that people of Crimea cannot be accused of choosing their path during the referendum of March 2014 at a time when Ukraine was in the midst of a political turmoil sparked by the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych and the installment of a Western-backed government in Kiev a month earlier. The first bills that were passed by the new Kiev government involved infringing the rights of the country’s ethnic Russians.
“Crimea has chosen Russia, and we cannot blame it [for doing so],” said Sarkozy, adding, “We must find the means to create a peacekeeping force to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine.”
In addition, Sarkozy stressed that European interests in relation with Russia are not the same as those of the United States, noting that Europe does not want a new Cold War with Moscow.
“The interests of the Americans with the Russians are not the interests of Europe and Russia,” said Sarkozy, adding, “We do not want the revival of a Cold War between Europe and Russia.”
Ukraine not destined to join EU
Sarkozy also spoke of Kiev’s hopes of joining the European Union in the near future, saying Ukraine “is not destined to join” the 28-member bloc, an opinion which some other European leaders have already expressed.
“Ukraine must preserve its role as a bridge between Europe and Russia,” Sarkozy added.
The remarks by Sarkozy came as French President Francois Hollande called for “quite strong” autonomy for Ukraine’s eastern restive regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, saying, “It will be difficult to make them share a common life [with Kiev]” following the armed conflict between Kiev government troops and pro-Russia forces.
Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17, 2014 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of participants voted in favor of the secession. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.
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