By empty (12/7/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In his first public reaction to the Ukrainian Supreme Court\'s 3 December decision to nullify the second round of Ukraine\'s presidential election, President Vladimir Putin, at a 6 December press conference in Ankara, Turkey, told journalists that he considers Western support for the \"orange revolution\" in Kyiv to be \"intolerable,\" RTR and other media reported. \"One can play the role of a mediator but one must not meddle and apply pressure. Only the people of any country -- and this includes Ukraine in the full sense -- can decide their fate,\" Putin said.
In his first public reaction to the Ukrainian Supreme Court\'s 3 December decision to nullify the second round of Ukraine\'s presidential election, President Vladimir Putin, at a 6 December press conference in Ankara, Turkey, told journalists that he considers Western support for the \"orange revolution\" in Kyiv to be \"intolerable,\" RTR and other media reported. \"One can play the role of a mediator but one must not meddle and apply pressure. Only the people of any country -- and this includes Ukraine in the full sense -- can decide their fate,\" Putin said. He suggested that Western meddling in Ukrainian affairs will create \"new divisions in Europe.\" \"I don\'t want, as in Germany, for us to divide Europe into westerners and easterners, into first-class and second-class people,\" Putin said. He also said that Russia is openly and correctly working with Ukraine\'s government. \"Of course we will...accept the will of any nation in the former Soviet space and will work with any elected leader.\" (RFE/RL)