BRUSSELS: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia will not reconsider its earlier signed all financial and energy agreements with Ukraine, no matter which government comes to power in the Eastern European country.
“Regarding you question whether we will review our agreements on loans and the energy sector if the opposition will take power … No, we will not,” Putin told a news conference after talks with European Union leaders in Brussels on Wednesday.
Putin said that the loan and the gradual reduction of gas price were to “support the people of Ukraine, not the government”. “It’s the ordinary people who always suffer,” he added.
The Russian president also reiterated Moscow’s position on the situation in Ukraine, saying that the political crisis in the country should be solved without foreign interference. He said that that Moscow believes that meddling in Ukraine’s domestic affairs is unacceptable.
The international community, which has been calling on Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich to act in a civilized way amid the crisis, should urge the opposition to do the same, Putin added.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov and his cabinet submitted their resignations, while the country’s parliament canceled some controversial anti-protest laws as a part of efforts to peacefully resolve the two-month crisis in the country.
The country’s President Viktor Yanukovych accepted the prime minister’s resignation, but ordered all cabinet members to stay on till the new cabinet is formed.
Ukraine has been rocked by anti-government protests after Yanukovych refrained from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) at the third Eastern Partnership Summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on November 29 last year in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Kiev refused to sign the agreement after the EU leaders called on Ukraine to allow jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko to travel overseas for medical treatment.
Later, Ukraine and Russia reached a strategic economic and trade deal in December, which provides Ukraine with significant discounts on imported Russian gas and billions of dollars in credit.
