SIMFEROPOL, December 18 (Itar-Tass) - Around 10,000 of Crimeans held a rally in support of Russia-Ukraine rapprochement in the central square in Simferopol on Wednesday. People from all the Crimean regions arrived to participate in the demonstration supporting the fresh Russia-Ukraine agreements, which were signed between the two countries’ presidents Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovich in Moscow. The demonstrators chanted slogans “No to rioting in squares, Yes to friendship with Russia!”, “We pin our future on Russia!” and “The victory will be ours!”
The speaker of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, said that despite the pressures from the opposition, the president of Ukraine had made a strong and courageous political move signing a range of documents which would promote the prospects of further cooperation development between the two countries.
“We, Crimeans, were looking forward to it long ago. We have always said that European integration on such onerous terms and loss of our friendship with Russia at the same time are unacceptable for Ukraine. We used to be one country, where people had the same history, same griefs and joys, and it is impossible to break this connection at once. We will never support it,” he added.
Konstantinov said the Crimeans were interested in expanding cooperation between Russia and Ukraine on a number of issues, the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait, the preservation of job places,export of goods to Russia and gas price discounts among. “This is a major prospect for our economy,” he stressed.