Russia wise not meddle in Ukrainian domestic affairs

Russia is right not to interfere in Ukraine's political turbulence and all Kiev's neighbors should follow suit, a Russian expert said Thursday. Though Moscow has been heavily engaged on the diplomatic front tackling Ukraine's integration into the European Union (EU) last year, the current situation makes it cautious not to take hasty steps, Timofei Bardachev, director of the Center for European Studies at the High School of Economics in Russia, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. Seeing Ukraine as a brotherly country and a cradle of its culture, Russia is doing "everything correct" regarding the ongoing confrontation between the government and the protesters, the expert said. "Moscow does not interfere with the events in Ukraine. This is the best option possible, and the Kremlin made it clear on Wednesday," Bardachev said. He said any involvement by Russia would only deepen the crisis, because anti-Russian sentiments were high among the opposition even now. "The opposition blames Russia for the U-turn Viktor Yanukovich has made on the eve of Ukraine's joining the association with the EU," the expert said. In the opposition's eyes, if it were not for Russia, Ukraine would now be part of the EU free-trade zone, Bardachev said. The best approach for all Ukraine's neighbors is to "let the Ukrainians sort out their domestic problems themselves and recognize the solution the Ukrainian people find, whether the other countries like it or not," he said. A tense stand-off between riot police and protesters continued in Kiev early Thursday, after dozens were killed and hundreds of others were injured in the latest round of clashes, which started Tuesday. Bardachev said an "immediate cause" of the recent eruption of violence had been support shown by some western countries for the opposition leaders. The Ukrainian opposition leaders, for example, were invited by senior officials to Berlin, where they were openly told Germany favored them in the recent confrontation, he said. "That recognition provoked the radical opposition to increase their aggressive actions against authorities, what we are witnessing right now," the expert said. There were now three sides in Ukraine's political arena -- the government, the moderate opposition and the radical opposition, with the radicals feeling very self-confident, Bardachev said. "They understand that whatever the course of events will be, the West will support them," he said. The protest, which began last November in support of European integration, turned violent in mid-January and became brutal again this week. Bardachev said the confrontation may last for quite a long time and could eventually lead to the country's de-facto disintegration. The radicals, after seizing several state administrations in the country's west, might seek to legitimize their de-facto rule in these regions through establishment of some sort of "national salvation council," Bardachev said. Meanwhile, the role of the so-called "system opposition," or the moderate opposition, which are currently represented in Ukraine's legislative body, will be marginalized and thus have no influence on future developments, he said.