Yanukovych reiterates commitment to peaceful resolution

Ukraine remained committed to resolving international conflicts peacefully, President Viktor Yanukovych said Thursday. "Keeping in mind the terrible consequences of World War II, Ukraine remains consistently devoted to the principles of peaceful and civilized conflict resolution through diplomatic means, and in strict accordance with international law," Yanukovych said in his address to nation, dedicated to the 68th anniversary of victory in World War II. Ukraine considered military force to be only an instrument of defense, Yanukovych said. He said Ukraine was able to protect itself from regional threats of extremism and radicalism by a balanced foreign policy and modern armed forces. After Germany's invasion of the former Soviet Union in 1941, an estimated 20 million Soviet Union soldiers and civilians, including at least 5.3 million Ukrainians, died in the four-year war. May 9 has been a major national holiday in Ukraine every year since the end of World War II in tribute to the victims and the heroes of the war and to honor the surviving veterans.