U.S. Senator John McCain has pledged his country’s support for anti-government protesters in Ukraine, a move aimed at establishing the U.S’ stand that interference in the affairs of Ukraine is unacceptable.
Street protests erupted after Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich’s, decision on November 21 to walk away from the agreement with the EU, after years of careful preparation, and turn to Moscow, Kiev’s Soviet-era overlord, for aid to save Ukraine’s distressed economy.
But McCain told a gathering of over 200,000 people on Kiev’s Independence Square, that their destiny laid in Europe.
Yanukovich’s policy swerve, while backed by many in Russian-speaking east Ukraine which is his powerbase, sparked huge disappointment and anger in western and central areas where people see Europe as their proper place.
“We are here to support your just cause, the sovereign right of Ukraine to determine its own destiny freely and independently. And the destiny you seek lies in Europe,” McCain, a leading Republican voice on U.S. foreign policy, said.
The presence of McCain at the anti-government rally after a weeks-long stand-off between demonstrators and the authorities further highlighted the geo-political East-West tug-of-war which Ukraine is once again at the centre of.
Western politicians, from Berlin and Brussels, have paid morale-boosting trips to the square drawing denunciation from Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for “crude” meddling in Ukraine’s affairs.
The movement began as a low-level pro-EU protest. But after a police crackdown on a group of mainly students and a later face-off between police and protesters last Wednesday, it has broadened into an outpouring of anger against perceived sleaze and corruption in the country Yanukovich has led for four years.
Protesters characterise it as a battle for Ukraine’s soul.
McCain is the latest of a string of European and American dignitaries to tour the sprawling protest camp set up behind barricades of benches, metal barriers, supermarket trolleys and wire netting on the square – known locally as the ‘maidan’.
McCain, who also met opposition leaders – the former boxing champion Vitaly Klitchko, former economy minister Arseny Yatsenyuk and far-right nationalist Oleh Tyahnybok – said: “We want to make it clear to Russia and Vladimir Putin that interference in the affairs of Ukraine is not acceptable to the United States.”
Speaking to journalists after addressing crowds, he said it was disturbing to hear that the EU may be suspending talks with Ukraine on the trade and political agreement.
Before the Sunday rally began, EU enlargement Chief, Stefan Fuele, said on Twitter he had told Ukraine he was suspending work on a trade and political deal, saying Kiev’s arguments to improve terms had “no grounds in reality”.
Fuele’s words suggested the European Union has lost patience with demands for financial aid from Kiev and with the part the bloc was being forced to play in a ‘bidding war’ with Russia over
Whatever the outcome, Yanukovich’s popularity has suffered hugely from the crisis, the opposition has been re-energized, the faith of key stakeholders such as the oligarchs has been shaken and he can no longer assume re-election in 2015.