Ukrainian Uprising Similar To Islamic Revolution: Ukrainian Envoy

Tehran, Feb 23, IRNA – Ukrainian Ambassador to Tehran Oleksandr Samarskiy on Sunday called recent anti-government uprisings in his country which led to ouster of President Victor Yanukovych a revolution similar to 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. Speaking to reporters, Samarskiy said the black era of communism has come to an end in Ukraine. Samarskiy said since the independence of Ukraine two decades ago the communist party has ruled the country and recent events and popular protests against corruption of the Yanukovych government marked the end of communism in Ukraine. The ousted Ukrainian president, Yanukovych, wanted to flee the country but Ukrainian border guards prevented him from leaving Ukraine, the ambassador said. He said that no country, even Russia, has agreed to grant asylum to Yanukovych. On sanctions by the European Union and the United States on Ukraine, Samarskiy said the sanctions will not apply to the new era. “The sanctions were imposed actually on those who were involved in the massacre of Ukrainian people. The sanctions were on individuals and not on the country.” He noted that recent events in Ukraine will not significantly affect Kiev’s relations with other countries and Ukrainian embassies in different countries will go ahead with their duties to protect national interests and expand ties with other countries. When asked about the future of Tehran-Kiev ties, Samarskiy said its too early to talk about such issues. He called for Iran-Ukraine Joint Economic Commission session to be held at the earliest and complained about postponement of the session twice in the last six months./end