KIEV, May 27 (RIA Novosti) – Kiev will hold talks with Moscow only with EU and US representatives present at the negotiating table, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk said Tuesday.
“In the current circumstances, bilateral negotiations [between Ukraine and Russia] without the presence of the United States and the European Union are not possible,” Yatseniuk said.
The interim prime minister said that Russia's position during talks had frequently changed, and therefore “to guarantee successful negotiations” the presence of EU and US representatives was required.
Ukraine had a presidential election on Sunday, with billionaire Petro Poroshenko taking 54.5 percent of the vote, according to the country’s Central Election Commission. After the announcement of exit poll data, Poroshenko made several statements, including voicing hopes “to start solving the accumulated problems” with Russia.
Moscow is ready for dialogue with Poroshenko, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding that the “readiness for dialogue has to have no preconditions, like, for example, he [Poroshenko] previously mentioned he will be ready for dialogue under the mediation of the European Union and the United States.”
