Ukrainian PM Gives More Powers to Regional Leaders

World Today

In Ukraine, an ultimatum’s deadline has passed. The situation is unchanged. Kiev “had” threatened force, if pro-Russia protesters didn’t lay down their weapons. Now, Ukraine’s interim prime minister has offered greater power to regional leaders.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk met with regional officials who once opposed his new government in Kiev, but not with protesters occupying government buildings in the cities of Donetsk or Luhansk. Still, he left it unclear how his ideas differed from the demands of the protesters or from Russia’s advocacy of federalization for Ukraine.

Ukrainian PM Gives More Powers to Regional Leaders

In Ukraine, an ultimatum's deadline has passed. The situation is unchanged. Kiev "had" threatened force, if pro-Russia protesters didn't lay down their weapons. Now, Ukraine's interim prime minister has offered greater power to regional leaders.

“There are no separatists among us,” said Gennady Kernes, mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, where the government recaptured a building taken over by protesters earlier in the week. Kernes and other officials asked Yatsenyuk to allow votes on autonomy for their regions but not on secession. The  government has resisted federalization, saying that would lay the groundwork for the country’s breakup.

Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland was the support base for Kremlin-friendly president Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted in February after months of protests. Last month, the Crimea region voted to secede and was annexed by Russia — but only after Russia took over the peninsula by force. But, As CCTV’s Stephanie Freid reports, trying to restore unity to a fractured nation, remains a difficult balancing act.

Anton Fedyashin, Executive Director for the Institute for Russian Culture at American University discusses the expectations for next week’s talks.

Ukraine Crisis: Expectations for Next Week’s Talks

Anton Fedyashin, Executive Director for the Institute for Russian Culture at American University discusses the expectations for next week’s talks.