Chances of war with Russia growing: Ukraine FM
Iran Press TV
Sun Mar 23, 2014 8:52PM GMT
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia has claimed that the likelihood of an armed conflict with Russia was "very high and growing".
The acting foreign minister said on Sunday the uncertainty about Moscow's intentions makes the chances of a military conflict between Russia and Ukraine very high.
'I would say if you wanted to measure [the possibility of war] somehow, it's becoming higher,' said Deshchytsia.
'We don't know what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has in his mind and what will be his decision,' Deshchytsia said, noting, 'That's why this situation is becoming even more explosive than it used to be a week ago.'
Earlier, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council chief Andriy Parubiy accused Russia of planning to claim all Ukraine's territory.
Vladimir Chizhov, the Russian ambassador to the European Union, said on Sunday that Russia does not harbor 'expansionist views' and didn't have its eye on other Ukrainian territories.
'There is no intention of the Russian Federation to do anything like that,' Chizhov said.
On March 21, Putin signed into law the documents officially making Crimea part of the Russian territory. Putin also signed legislation creating two new Russian administrative districts -- Crimea and the port city of Sevastopol.
Earlier, Russia's upper and lower houses of parliament had overwhelmingly put their stamp at the annexation of the Ukrainian breakaway region of Crimea into the Russian Federation.
Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of Crimean residents voted in favor of the secession. The voter turnout in the referendum stood at 83.1 percent.
MOL/MAM/AS
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