Moscow and Kyiv to start establishing good relations from scratch, Baloha says

10:42

Viktor Baloha, the head of the Ukrainian presidential secretariat, lays the responsibility for worsening of Ukrainian-Russian relations upon the foreign ministers of the two countries and offers Moscow and Kyiv to turn over a new leaf.

"If the sides have no wish to negotiate, it is very bad. We are neighbors, and we need to force the development of bilateral relations. It is necessary the foreign ministers of the two countries seek for a possibility to improve relations but not try to spoil them. I think some coolness observed last time will be in the past soon," he said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.

In connection with this Baloha criticized Volodymyr Ohryzko who has been recently dismissed from the post of foreign minister of Ukraine.

"I appreciate Ohryzko for his professionalism. But under his management the two foreign ministries of the neighboring countries could not achieve mutual understanding, and they both have this on their conscience. I will not evaluate who is right and who is guilty in the situation. I want us to start from scratch," Baloha said.

13.03.2009