Nicholson blames Putin for violence in Ukraine
The Conservatives’ Rob Nicholson is blaming Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the deadly attacks launched by vehemently anti-Russian groups in Ukraine.
Nicholson, who is running for re-election, has been serving as Canada’s Foreign Affairs minister.
Three security officers were killed and 140 injured in clashes between Ukraine government forces and the anti-Russian groups, including members of the ultranationalist Svoboda party.
Ukraine government investigators have summoned nearly 30 people for questioning in connection with the attacks, including Svoboda leader Oleh Tyahnybok.
Tyahnybok was among the Ukrainian officials who in 2014 greeted then-foreign affairs minister John Baird in Kyiv. Baird had travelled to Ukraine to pledge Canada’s support for its new government.
But Nicholson on Tuesday issued a statement saying Putin was responsible for the violence caused by the antiRussian extremists.
“This tragic incident draw (sic) its source from the instability caused by Russian aggression in Eastern Ukraine, in particular those orchestrated by Putin and his regime,” said Nicholson.
Asked how the Russian leader could be responsible for violence caused by those who revile him, Stephen Lecce, a spokesman for the Conservative campaign, stated the following in an email: “The current climate of instability in Ukraine is a direct result of the Putin-backed insurgency in East Ukraine, its incessant propaganda, and the Kremlin’s aspiration to bring Kyiv under its repression.”
Most of the 100 violent protesters fighting with Ukrainian government security forces were members of Svoboda, which holds only a handful of seats in parliament. Wielding truncheons, pipes and sticks with nails, they clashed against police in riot gear. The deaths were caused when one of the right-wing extremists threw a grenade at government forces. The battles between the ultranationalists and Ukraine’s government show the fragile nature of the situation in the country.
Ukraine’s parliament supports a bill that would give autonomy to areas in eastern Ukraine, which tend to identify more with Russia. Western nations are supportive of the bill, which they hope would help put a stop to fighting between the government and rebels in eastern Ukraine who advocate separation. The rebels have been supported by Russia.
But the ultranationalists accuse the government and Ukraine’s pro-western President Petro Poroshenko of undermining the country with the new bill.
The Conservatives were warned earlier this year about the danger posed by the ultranationalist groups.
Canadian Forces officers brought in measures to ensure that Canadian troops now training Ukraine’s military would not provide such skills to ultranationalist militias, Defence Minister Jason Kenney acknowledged at a briefing in April.