Tadic: Russia-West agreement could solve Ukrainian crisis

KIEV - Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDS) leader Boris Tadic has met with Ukrainian officials in Kiev to discuss possible solutions to the Ukrainian crisis, noting that that the solutions can only be found through an agreement between Russia and the West that takes the interests of both sides into account.

In a few days, Serbia will assume the OSCE chairmanship and I expect that my country, as a friend of Ukraine and Russia, will succeed in being a neutral but energetic mediator in the discussions between Kiev and Moscow, Tadic said during the meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, the SDS said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a meeting with Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, Tadic said that Ukraine must invest maximum effort into implementing internal reforms in almost all areas if it wants to progress towards EU membership.

The former Serbian president also met with former Ukrainian presidents Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski and the rector of Ukraine's diplomatic academy.

In a lecture at the Diplomatic Academy in Kiev, Tadic noted that the thousands of people killed, wounded or displaced in the Ukrainian crisis represent a tragic symbol of the end of the old security architecture in Europe.

Even though this process is threatening to escalate into a global Cold War, it represents a serious opportunity to find a long-term solution to redefining the relations between the West and Russia, Tadic concluded.

Photo Tanjug, Z. Zestic (archive photo)