Ukraine's Ousted President Hopes for Crimea's Return [Hun Sen shares some parallel stories with Yanukovych] (posted by Khmer Wathanakam)
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| Yanukovych and Putin Google image) |
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| [ Does Hun Sen have remorse at the end as Yanukovych? ] (image english.vov.vn) |
In his first interview since fleeing to Russia, Ukraine's ousted
president said Wednesday that he was "wrong" to have invited Russian
troops into Crimea and vowed to try to persuade Russia to return the
coveted Black Sea peninsula.
Defensive and at times teary-eyed, Viktor Yanukovych told The Associated
Press and Russia's state NTV television that he still hopes to
negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin to get the annexed
region back.
"Crimea is a tragedy, a major tragedy," the 63-year-old Yanukovych said,
insisting that Russia's takeover of Crimea wouldn't have happened if he
had stayed in power. He fled Ukraine in February after three months of
protests focused on corruption and on his decision to seek closer ties
to Russia instead of the European Union.
Yanukovych denied the allegations of corruption, saying he built his
palatial residence outside of Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, with his own
money. He also denied responsibility for the sniper deaths of about 80
protesters in Kiev in February, for which he has been charged by
Ukraine's interim government.
As the world has watched the tumultuous events in Ukraine, Yanukovych
has been a bit of a ghost, even as he has insisted he is still the
country's true leader. While Putin has been openly dismissive of
Yanukovych, the Russian president has also described him as the
legitimate leader and his ouster as illegal.
Yanukovych's statement about Crimea appeared to represent an attempt to
shore up at least some support in his homeland, where even his
supporters have deserted him.
Russia annexed Crimea last month following a hastily called referendum
held two weeks after Russian troops took control of the region. Ukraine
and the West have rejected the vote and the annexation as illegal.
While Russia can hardly be expected to roll back its annexation,
Yanukovych's statement could widen Putin's options in the talks on
settling the Ukrainian crisis by creating an impression that Moscow
could be open for discussions on Crimea's status in the future.
Yanukovych has now lost the Ukrainian presidency twice in the past
decade. In 2004, his presidential win was thrown out after the Orange
Revolution protests caused the fraudulent election to be annulled.
Yanukovych said he has spoken with Putin twice by phone and once in
person since he arrived in Russia — describing their talks as
"difficult" — and hopes to have more meetings with the Russian leader to
negotiate Crimea's return to Ukraine.
"We must search for ways ... so that Crimea may have the maximum degree
of independence possible ... but be part of Ukraine," he said.
Yanukovych said the Crimean referendum in March — a vote in which
residents overwhelmingly voted to join Russia — was a response to
threats posed by radical nationalists in Ukraine.
Putin said last month that Yanukovych had asked Russia to send its
troops to Ukraine to protect its people — a request seen as treason by
many Ukrainians. Asked about the move, Yanukovych said he had made a
mistake.
"I was wrong," he said. "I acted on my emotions."
Russian troops quickly overran Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian
majority, taking over government and military facilities on the pretext
of protecting Russians.
Yanukovych did not answer several questions about whether he would
support Russia — which has deployed tens of thousands of troops near the
Ukrainian border — moving into Ukraine to protect ethnic Russians, the
justification Putin used to take Crimea.
Yanukovych echoed the key Kremlin demand for settling the Ukrainian
crisis, pushing for a referendum that could turn Ukraine into a loosely
knit federation. He said such a referendum should be followed by
constitutional reform, and only after that should Ukraine have a
national election.
The interim government in Kiev that took power after him has scheduled a presidential election for May 25.
Yanukovych, who was born in the Donetsk coal-mining region of eastern
Ukraine, worked at a metal plant before becoming an industrial manager
and rising through the ranks to become a local governor and then prime
minister. His critics note his criminal record and say he lacks a proper
education to qualify for the country's top job.
After he left the country, crowds of Ukrainians flocked to view his
opulent country residence outside of Kiev and were shocked by its
extravagant display of wealth amid the country's financial ruin.
On Wednesday, Yanukovych denied any corruption surrounding the estate.
He spoke with pride and affection about his collection of dozens of
classic cars, saying he had bought them over years. He also said he
hadn't seen or used the golden loaf of bread found in his residence that
attracted much attention and sarcasm.
He also insisted that he gave no advantages or special privileges to his
dentist-turned-billionaire son Alexander, who is said to have amassed a
vast fortune during his father's rule and angered other Ukrainian
tycoons by taking over some of the country's most profitable assets.
Yanukovych insisted he was reluctant to use force against the protesters
who paralyzed Kiev for months, saying he was criticized by his
entourage for taking too soft an attitude.
He firmly denied that he gave the orders to shoot the demonstrators in
downtown Kiev in February. The government now in power has slapped
Yanukovych with criminal charges in connection with those deaths.
The long-time politician said he hopes to return to Ukraine someday, but didn't offer any details on how he could reclaim power.
With tears welling in his eyes, Yanukovych said he was ready to
sacrifice his life during the escalating protests but realized that
doing so would be simply a gift to the "neo-fascists" who he said seized
power by force. He claimed they machine-gunned his convoy as he was
leaving the Ukrainian capital.
"I didn't want to give them my life just for nothing," he said.
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