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EU Ambassador to Ukraine considers Timoshenko quite depressed

The ambassador said he is glad to have gotten the opportunity to meet Tymoshenko

KIEV, August 11 (Itar-Tass) — Ukrainian ex-premier Yulia Timoshenko is quite depressed, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira said on Saturday.

The EU ambassador met Timoshenko at Central Clinical Hospital N 5 where the former Ukrainian premier underwent treatment. “She is quite depressed, which is understandable as she has been kept in jail for over a year, and new proceedings are instituted against her. This does not help improve the health state, as creates a nervous emotional situation. But she is a very strong woman and holds her own,” the diplomat said.

“We discussed the political situation in Ukraine, her vision of the political situation, how she sees the development of relations between Ukraine and the EU today and in the future, and talked about her state of health,” Teixeira said.

He noted that the former premier was in a rather depressed emotional state.

The ambassador said he is glad to have gotten the opportunity to meet Tymoshenko. He noted that he had been asking for this meeting for more than a year.

Teixeira said he listened more rather than asked questions, because he came “more as a friend”. “I did not have to meet with her to see the deterioration of the situation in Ukraine. But I hope and will hope that my impression is wrong,” Teixeira added.

The EU ambassador said he arrived in Ukraine as the EU representative when Timoshenko was the country’s premier. “We had very friendly and constructive relations,” he said.

The diplomat stressed that he was criticised by his position on the events in Ukraine. At the same time, he stressed that he had never heard any criticism from Timoshenko or the members of her government.

In his view, there will be no changes to the better in Ukraine in the near future. However, he said, “I hope that my impressions are wrong.”