"THERE CAN BE NO UKRAINE WITHOUT CRIMEA"

- How does the decision on the Crimean Autonomous Republic joining the Russian Federation, which was adopted by the Crimean parliament, affect the processes in Ukraine?

- The referendum in Crimea on 30 March has nothing to do with the self-determination of the Crimean people or concern for their security. All this is purely and simply the interests of the Kremlin and the Russian president personally. Throughout the crisis the Crimean parliament had not taken a single legitimate decision. All decisions have been taken at the point of a gun and in violation of the procedures and articles of the constitution, and so on. The problem not only affects Crimea and Ukraine - through its actions Russia is issuing a challenge to the whole world and returning to the era of the Cold War, open armed invasions, confrontation and the arms race.

- What will Kiev do to restore sovereignty over Crimea?

- The Ukrainian authorities are using all mechanisms to resolve the problem by political and diplomatic means. But we reserve the right to use other methods to restore the country's territorial integrity.

- Are confrontations possible between the pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian people of Crimea during and after the referendum?

- A referendum cannot be held at the point of a gun, within a few days, and so on. It is not a referendum, but an excuse to justify the presence of Russian troops. The Russian leadership was in for a great disappointment in Ukraine. They expected the Russian troops to be met with flowers, but the opposite happened - the Ukrainians rallied around the idea of territorial integrity. Now Russia wants to somehow justify bringing Russian troops into Ukrainian territory.

- How strong are the separatist trends in Donetsk, Luhansk and other regions?

- Some time ago there were provocations and attempts to seize administrative buildings. In Odessa, Zaporizhya, Luhansk and other towns there were demonstrations of thousands of people in support of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

- What's your opinion of the actions of the US and the EU over the Crimea question?

- All the key international partners - the EU, the US and China - are supporting us with moral, political and financial help. In particular, the US has provided financial support of 1 billion dollars. The EU has adopted a decision to provide aid of 11bn euros, and so on. This aid is very important because the new government is only just finding its feet, and the country's economy has to be rescued from collapse. Our partners are promising to step up their support for Ukraine in the future. The thing is that everyone knows that one country has committed aggression against another. The restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity is dependent upon whether the countries of the world respect the inviolability of each other's borders and whether other countries respect the US and Great Britain - these two states have come out as a guarantor of Ukraine's security in exchange for Kiev's rejection of nuclear weapons. This is a crisis on a world scale, and therefore Ukraine has not been left on its own to face the aggressor.

- Is there a risk that the Crimean question will transfer to a phase of "frozen conflicts", like other conflicts since the collapse of the Soviet Union?

- This is not a matter for discussion. There are no scenarios for a Ukraine without Crimea. We have enough strength and resources to uphold our territorial integrity.