site.btaUkrainian Ambassador Mykola Baltazhy Thinks Lifting Sanctions against Russia Would Be Big Mistake

Ukrainian Ambassador Mykola Baltazhy Thinks Lifting Sanctions against Russia Would Be Big Mistake

Sofia, February 22 (BTA) - Lifting the sanctions against Russia would be the biggest mistake at the moment, Ukrainian Ambassador Mykola Baltazhy told a BTA-hosted news conference on Monday. The Ambassador said his country does not perceive the sanctions as a tool for punishment but as a tool for exerting pressure on the Russian leadership to return to fulfilling its international obligations.

The diplomat also said that the Ukrainians are not Russophobes. In Baltazhy's words, the Ukrainians, the same as the Bulgarians, have not forgotten Dostoevsky and Russia's ballet and theatre and noted that "what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's Russia is doing against Ukraine is inadmissible and has nothing to do with democracy".

He went on to say that Russia is waging an information war against Ukraine as well as Europe, and does not want to heed the international realities. The diplomat said he was puzzled why people succumbed to the Russian propaganda. The Ambassador argued that it is impossible in the 21st century, when alternative sources of information exist, to yield to "deceitful and extremely aggressive propaganda".

Baltazhy noted that two years have passed since the events at the Maidan in Kiev and the occupation of Crimea. He said that Ukraine will never agree with the occupation of Crimea. He said Ukraine has come up with an initiative to prepare a roadmap for Crimea's de-occupation which is envisaged to start with an international negotiation mechanism.

Baltazhy said that the Ukrainian government continues the reforms. He said that macro-financial stability was ensured in 2015, anti-corruption bodies were set up, the Ukrainian export was diversified and commercial exchange with Russia dropped three-fold.