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Ex-chancellor Schroeder not to mediate in Ukrainian conflict

In the riaots 388 injured have sought medical aid, 263 have been sent to hospital, among them 86 police officers, six journalists, a deputy, four minors and one Russian citizen
Gerhard Schroeder EPA/BODO MARKS
Gerhard Schroeder
© EPA/BODO MARKS

BERLIN, February 19./ITAR-TASS/. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will not act as a mediator between the government and the opposition in Ukraine's political crisis.

“No one is capable of mediating in the Ukrainian conflict on one's own,” he said in Berlin on Wednesday, suggesting that the United Nations should be involved in settling the conflict.

“The current situation requires an institution capable of holding talks with both sides,” he said. “And there is only one such institution, it's the UN.”

Schroeder added the European Union could not play a mediating role between the government and the opposition forces because of “the Europeans’ single-sided support for the opposition”.

“Europe has made a mistake taking one side (in the conflict),” he said.

The politician opposed the idea of sanctions on Ukraine.

“Sanctions will hardly be able to help at the moment,” he said. “Ukraine should determine itself which direction to take.”

Unrest has deepened in Ukraine as opposition forces challenge suspended advance in the proposed European Union Association Agreement. Peaceful rallies that started last November in the centre of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, have spilled over into armed confrontations across the country.

Ukraine's Ministry of Health says clashes between protesters and the police in Kiev have killed two dozen people. It says 388 injured have sought medical aid, 263 have been sent to hospital, among them 86 police officers, six journalists, a deputy, four minors and one Russian citizen.

Schroeder was proposed as a mediator between the government and the opposition in Ukraine's crisis by the chairman of The Left party faction in Germany's parliament Gregor Gysi, who told Deutschlandfunk radio station on Wednesday the former chancellor was capable of mediating as a person with good contacts in Russia.