MOSCOW, February 20. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's parliamentary upper house Speaker Valentina Matvienko has called on all the healthy political and social forces in Ukraine to join ranks in order to stop the violence and unconstitutional activities in the country, which are threatening its territorial integrity.
“I think that all healthy forces in Ukraine - and this is an absolute majority of citizens - should join ranks to put an end to this violence, plundering and unconstitutional activities as the latter endanger Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” Matvienko said on Thursday at a meeting with the speaker of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov.
She noted it was quite obvious to everyone today that the events on the Maidan (Kiev's Independence Square, the hotbed of tensions in Kiev) had nothing in common with any peaceful actions held by an opposition of any kind.
“This is a coup d’etat, this is an attempt of a violent take-over, an attempt to overthrow legitimate power,” she said. “We should call things by their proper names. I believe that what is happening in Ukraine today cannot be called otherwise.”
Matvienko added that Ukraine’s president continued to make efforts to find a way out of the current situation.
“We should give credit to the Ukrainian president who tries to find peaceful means of settling this highly acute political crisis,” she said, referring to the president’s negotiations with the opposition leaders.
“Unfortunately, the opposition leaders and the people on the Maidan are two quite different forces,” she said. “But neither of them had any positive agenda to discuss.”
However, Matvienko said “it is necessary to do everything possible to find a peaceful solution to this most violent political crisis”.
“But at the same time, irrespective of whether it happened in a civilized or an uncivilized state, the authorities should preserve constitutional order,” she added. “The authorities should ensure people’s security under the Ukrainian Constitution and in accordance with the applicable legislation. It is necessary to curb extremist activities.