Russian influence on Ukrainian politics is falling, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has said in an interview with the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
He also commented on whether Russia is trying to influence the
upcoming presidential election in Ukraine, saying that a new Russian
ambassador should arrive in Ukraine only after the election.
“Not dispatching an ambassador means the freezing of relations. We
want good cooperation with Russia, and we’re against any arguments
between Ukrainians and Russians. Russia undoubtedly has influence on
our politics, however, the latest elections have shown that each time
it [the influence] is less decisive,” Yushchenko said.
As reported, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree to appoint Mikhail Zurabov as Russian ambassador to Ukraine.
At the same time, Medvedev said in a message to the Ukrainian
president that “under the conditions of the anti-Russian course of the
Ukrainian leadership, I have decided to delay the arrival in Ukraine of
our new ambassador. Concrete terms will be specified a bit later
depending on the development of Russian-Ukrainian relations.”
