ROSTOV-ON-DON, November 28. /TASS/. Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovich said on Monday that during the 2014 maidan events he had been pushed towards forming a technocratic government and appointing Arseniy Yatsenyuk prime minister, but the latter wouldn’t agree.
"During the negotiations when we discussed possible ways out of the crisis, disproval of the then government [led by Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov - TASS] was voiced. Opposition representatives were giving negative assessments of the government’s activities and possible participation of the opposition in the formation of a technocratic government or anything that might have met the demands voiced at that time," Yanukovich said in a video conference while answering questions from a court in Kiev, which is investigating the events in the Ukrainian capital's Independence Square, or Maisan, of nearly three years ago.
Yanukovich said he was "not against that" as he "was being pushed towards this decision."
"I wanted the government to work transparently and efficiently. There are and have always been a lot of specialists in Ukraine who can work professionally at a due level. I told them, ‘You are welcome, once you can work better than the current government, please give your initiatives," he said.
"And then came an initiative to appoint Arseniy Yatsenyuk prime minister but he said he would think over this move as he did not know how to look upon that matter from the political point of view. I don’t know what a political point of view may mean and how it can be compared with the interests of the Ukrainian people. But he did answer that way," the former president said.