Editor’s Note: Global Times reporter Li Qian sat down with Ukrainian Ambassador to China Oleg Dyomin, as Chang Meng interviewed Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov, to discuss the current situation in Ukraine as Crimea prepares to go to the polls on Sunday in a vote that may dramatically influence the future of the region.

Russian Ambassador: Russia not the only victim of sanctions

Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov. Photo: Artem Ivanov

GT: How will Russia administrate Crimea if it decides to join Russia after the Sunday referendum? How will Russia deal with it if the referendum has the opposite result?

Denisov: It is too early to predict the results of the Sunday referendum. It is even more premature to contemplate Russia's actions with regard to the outcome. We reckon that only the people of Crimea have the right to determine their future and the future of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

Nevertheless, we are closely monitoring the development of the situation. If the referendum brings that result [joining Russia] Crimea can turn to the Russian Federation with the proposition to accept the Republic of Crimea into the Russian Federation as a new constituent entity. In this case a respective interstate treaty between the Republic of Crimea and the Russian Federation would be needed, and if signed it should be approved by Russia's relevant authorities. So as you can see, the procedure is multilayered and quite complicated.  

Today we can only observe the situation and state that Russia will fully respect any results of the free will of the Crimean people at the referendum.

GT: If Ukraine eventually starts to turn to the Western camp, how will Russia handle the bilateral relations?

Denisov: As President Putin said, Russia's position on the situation in Ukraine is consistent. Russia is interested in a stable and powerful Ukraine, where the legal rights and interests of the Ukrainians, our compatriots and all nationals are enforced.

Russia has always considered Ukraine to not just be a neighbor but a fraternal state. Thus Russia is eager to maintain close ties with Ukraine under any circumstances. We believe that current instability in different regions of Ukraine is a direct consequence of careless actions by the new Ukrainian regime, which, in our perspective, is not fully legitimate.

We advocate normalization of the situation in Ukraine and call for the fulfillment of the 21 February agreement, which would mean the formation of a legitimate national unity government considering the interests of all political forces, all nationalities and regions of the country.

GT: How does Russia view and plan to tackle the sanction measures that the US and the EU have threatened to impose? What are their reasons for doing so?

Denisov: Indeed, the Russian Government has been hearing certain threats to "punish" Russia for sticking to its principled line with regard to the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine. This aggrieves us a lot. These threats are obviously being used to put extra pressure on our country and to influence the Russian stance on some critical issues of international affairs. We consider such methods to be unconstructive and exacerbating tensions in bilateral and multilateral contact. Moreover if such sanctions are imposed, the harm will inevitably affect both sides and, according to many experts, Russia would not be the one who suffers more.

GT: China has a close strategic partnership with Russia and holds the principle of non-intervention. As the ambassador, how do you view China's role in solving the Ukraine crisis?

Denisov: Indeed, our bilateral relations with China have been on the incline. Despite the fact that they have always been very good, recently we can see a new drive for significant development. Today we may speak of "new heights"in our cooperation in all fields.

Leaders and foreign ministers of our countries have discussed the current crisis in Ukraine. We are very grateful to China for its balanced and principled position on this issue. Russia and China are making a significant contribution to international development and security. We hope that the closeness of our positions on Ukraine will become an important factor for stability in the region. 

GT: Some observers see the crisis as a Cold War scar. How would different resolutions influence the international situation and also Russia's relations with the US and the EU?

Denisov: The crisis in Ukraine has deep internal roots and is not about Russia-US or Russia-EU relationships. We regret that our Western partners are not always able to adequately perceive the changing reality and accept that it is not possible to impose their own will everywhere on the globe.

Still we express our sincere hope that the situation in Ukraine will pacify soon, contacts with our American and European counterparts will become more productive, and contribute to the normalization of the crisis.

GT: What is your comment regarding the recent postings on the official Sina Weibo account of your embassy, especially those refuting the moves of the US?

Denisov: I know that some of the blog postings on the Russian Embassy official Sina Weibo have triggered a broad discussion among netizens and in media. All of those postings reflect the official position of the Russian Federation and are strictly in line with the statements recently made by Russian officials.

I noticed that the online community was particularly interested in the statement by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman A.Lukashevich commenting on the distortion of facts by the US Department of State. We are indeed concerned with some cases of applying "double standards" in international affairs and misinterpreting reality which only result in escalation of tensions around developments in Ukraine and Crimea. Thus we feel the need to provide the Chinese public with our insights and express our hope for more followers.

Ukrainian Ambassador: Build an economy open to East and West

Ukrainian Ambassador to China Oleg Dyomin. Photo: Li Hao/GT

GT: Crimea will hold a referendum on March 16 to decide whether to stay in Ukraine or to join the Russian Federation. If the result is joining Russia, how will Ukraine deal with the situation?

Dyomin: First of all, Crimea is Ukrainian territory. The decision of the Crimean parliament to hold a referendum is against the laws of Ukraine and international law. Therefore, the future result of the referendum is invalid, and Ukraine doesn't recognize it.

GT: Now that Ukraine has a new government which is pro-West and expects to join the EU, how will it handle relations with Russia, with which Ukraine has traditionally maintained close connections?

Dyomin: What I want to say is that Ukraine doesn't have a new government that is closer to Western Europe. The most important task of our new government is to secure the interests of the country and its people, not to get closer to the West. The new government clearly outlined its No.1 mission as tightening cooperation with Russia in various fields, including economic and cultural sectors. Ukraine doesn't aim to develop relations only with the West. Ukraine needs a more open economic system, just like that of China, to boost friendly relations with all parties.

GT: Ukraine is heavily dependent on Russian energy. Just days ago Russia threatened to withdraw its cheaper natural gas prices from Ukraine. How will Ukraine handle the result of its changing relations with Russia?

Dyomin: There are various channels that could be used to relieve Ukraine's reliance on Russia. First of all we can stick to energy conservation and developing new energy. Ukraine has adopted policies and reduced its energy imports from Russia by 40 percent. We may also get energy from other regions like West Europe and Central Asia. We have started cooperation with China, too, to import Chinese technology in the energy sector.

GT: You just mentioned the figure of reducing energy reliance from Russia by 40 percent, compared to when?

Dyomin: It was a calculation based between the years 2012 and 2013.

GT: Ukraine has met with much frustration on its path towards democratization since independence in 1991. What are the obstacles?

Dyomin: The main reason is that Ukraine is young, lacking experience in building a country. The modernization reforms of the economy were too slow and couldn't meet the demands of the time. The traditional markets for Ukrainian products are Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and they do not have demand for upgraded Ukrainian products, which hindered our economy. In recent years, Ukraine has lacked a market economy and the government was infested with corruption and thus couldn't provide a fair business environment.

GT: Undeniably, Ukraine is now strengthening connections with the EU, and the interim government has announced it will resume the process of signing an association agreement with the EU. Inside the EU, some new members are suffering from policies relating to unions. How does Ukraine view its prospects of joining the EU?

Dyomin: We need to look at the EU, and also to refer to the situation facing countries of the CIS. When Ukraine acquired independence in 1991, our neighbor Poland moved toward Western Europe. At that time, Poland and Ukraine had similar infrastructure and potential, but if we compare the two countries now, we see Poland's gross national product is four times larger than that of Ukraine. Consider the huge potential of Ukraine in agriculture and rich resources in other industries. If the government opens the economy to both the West and East, Ukraine will develop fast. What we need now is to build an economic system open to all, to both East and West.

GT: China and Ukraine have had comprehensive cooperation in many fields. How will Ukraine deal with bilateral relations, and how will it secure ongoing cooperation with China and Chinese enterprises after the recent changes?

Dyomin: The cooperation between Ukraine and China is based on the principle of mutual benefit. We never had disputes in economic or other forms of cooperation. The new government of Ukraine, upon taking power, immediately notified China it would continue all contracts between the two sides.

GT: What adjustments has the embassy made for the imminent situation?

Dyomin: We are busy these days and hold many meetings every day, providing Chinese the true situation in Ukraine and expressing the government's attitudes. Russian media are full of propaganda, so we need to provide true information and reduce the negative impact of it.

Here we want to emphasize that the Ukraine values China's consistent stance on supporting Ukrainian territorial integrity and independence. We hope China, one of the world's leaders and a partner of Russia, will assist with talks between Ukraine and Russia as an intermediary to tackle issues through negotiations. China has been announcing it would support seeking a peaceful solution for the Ukrainian issue. Both Ukraine and China oppose secessionism and extremism. And we believe that our understanding of secessionism is the same. The whole world shares the same recognition of secessionism. The division of Crimea from the Ukrainian government is just like Xinjiang secessionists in China. So, we really hope China supports Ukraine's stance.