Ukraine is on the brink of “civil war” as a result of the stand-off between authorities and protesters across the country, its first post-independence president Leonid Kravchuk told parliament on Wednesday.
“All the world acknowledges and Ukraine acknowledges that the state is on the verge of civil war,” Kravchuk, Ukraine’s president from 1991-1994, told parliament in an emotional address.
“There are parallel authorities in the country and there is a de-facto uprising,” said Kravchuk, referring to anti-government protesters who had ousted Kiev authorities and taken control of regional administrations in several parts of the country.
“It is a revolution. It is a dramatic situation in which we must act with the greatest responsibility,” he told deputies, who gave him a standing ovation.
“We need to ease the confrontation between the sides and agree a plan to solve the conflict. We need to work on this plan step by step to ease the confrontation,” he added.
Kravchuk has for several weeks been leading roundtable talks aimed at finding a solution to the crisis.