Ukraine's President wants no ‘cold war’

Victor Yushchenko was asked in Lviv if he thought the government led by Viktor Yanukovych “had declared cold war” on him, President’s press office reported. 

“Frankly speaking, I will try to build and maintain exceptionally constructive relations with the government and parliament. I see no reasons for such a conclusion, although I do not like many things the government does,” the President said.

Yushchenko opined that the new team was introducing its traditions, methods and style, which explains “why, perhaps, they make some erroneous decisions.”  He added that the January 1/2006 constitutional changes also contributed to the problem, complicating their cooperation.

However, Yushchenko said he saw “no deliberate evil intention to make this relationship tense and destructive.”

“I really do not see it and believe the premier, like me, strives to build constructive relations,” he said. “...But those who are going to war with the Presidential Secretariat will lose.”

The Head of State said such non-productive cooperation would undermine the trust of voters.

“If we live for Ukraine, these two branches of power, the President and the government, must work to benefit the nation,” he said.