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Moscow advises Kiev to talk with people on equal terms, without use of force

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MOSCOW, May 08. /ITAR-TASS/. Moscow advises Kiev to talk to people on equal terms without using force, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday, May 8.

“Following Swiss President and Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Didier Burkhalter’s visit to Moscow on May 7 and his meetings with the President of Russia, we have received generally positive responses from our international partners. We think this is a good sign indicating there is a common interest in finding a way out of the crisis in Ukraine,” the ministry said.

“However, from Kiev we have heard only (parliament-appointed Prime Minister) Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s clumsy attempts to make caddish wisecracks. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also came up with obscure incantations that no one can discuss the political impasse in Ukraine without Kiev. It seems that Kiev has forgotten that the situation in Ukraine is in the focus of attention of all responsible international partners,” the ministry said.

“It’s obvious that Yatsenyuk and his team should talk first of all with the Ukrainian people not by looking down upon them but on equal terms, without cloying ultimatums and the criminal use of force,” the ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has also expressed hope that the West will exert direct influence on Kiev to prod it onto starting a national dialogue in Ukraine.

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Ukraine crisis Foreign policy Russian Foreign Ministry

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