FRANCE WARNS OF ‘CIVIL WAR’ IN UKRAINE
Paris, 8 Rajab 1435/7 May 2014 (MINA) – French President Francois Hollande has warned that Ukraine risks facing a “civil war” if the upcoming presidential election in the East European country is postponed.
“If there are no elections on May 25, Ukraine will face chaos and civil war… When a conflict starts, you never know when it will finish,” Hollande said in an interview with the French BFM-TV channel on Tuesday.
The French president pointed out that he had made indirect contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin to make it clear to him how important the Ukrainian election is to Paris.
He also called on European countries and the United States to put more pressure on Russia through sanctions concerning the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.
Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier cautioned that Ukraine is on the verge of war following fresh clashes between pro-Russian protesters and Ukrainian troops in the east of the country.
“The bloody pictures from Odessa have shown us that we are just a few steps away from a military confrontation,” Steinmeier said in interviews published in four European newspapers on Tuesday.
He added that the situation could lead to another Cold War and that is why the world should try to de-escalate the current tensions.
The Kiev authorities’ plans to hold a nationwide presidential election on May 25 have been overshadowed by fierce clashes between pro-Russian demonstrators and Ukrainian forces in the country’s east.
On April 17, Kiev’s interim government together with the US, Russia and the European Union (EU) reached an agreement in the Swiss city of Geneva, calling for all sides to ease the tensions in Ukraine. Nevertheless, a few days later, Ukraine’s acting government ordered a re-launch of its military operations in the eastern and southern parts in a bid to root out the pro-Moscow protesters.
The protesters keep occupying a number of government, police and other administrative buildings in a dozen cities and towns in eastern Ukraine, demanding integration into neighboring Russia. (T/P09/E01).
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
