Maidan uprising: “Ukrainians did not surrender to Putin”

An uprising for freedom and independence: This is how Ukraine’s former Prime Minister Yatsenyuk looks back on the protests on the Maidan ten years ago. For him, there is a direct connection between the Maidan and Putin’s plans to attack Ukraine.

ARD: You were Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2014 to 2016. In your opinion, how is today’s Russian war of aggression related to the developments on the Maidan?

Arseniy Yatsenyuk: There were two revolutions in Ukraine. One of these revolutions was the “Orange Revolution” of 2004. The next revolution was the “Revolution of Dignity” in 2014. Both revolutions showed Ukrainians’ desire for freedom, for independence. And both revolutions posed the greatest danger to Vladimir Putin personally.

In the 2004 revolution, Ukrainians rebelled because then-Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who had been pushed through by Putin, wanted to manipulate the presidential elections. But in 2010, Putin helped his so-called President Yanukovych get elected. And then he decided to disempower not just the president’s cabinet, but the entire Ukraine.

The main reason why the Ukrainians went to the Maidan was that “Putin’s president” withdrew his signature from the association agreement with the European Union in 2014. Ukraine wanted to return to Europe, and Putin and the president he supported stopped that path to Europe.

Putin loses the 2004 revolution in Ukraine, Putin loses Ukraine in 2014, he starts the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 when I became prime minister. Putin sent his military to Donetsk and Luhansk, i.e. to eastern Ukraine. And he thought that the government would fall, that the West would turn away from us and that he would still be able to take over Ukraine. But that didn’t happen either.

And so he prepared a major attack in 2022. And in principle there is only one reason for this: Putin’s desire to destroy Ukraine, absorb it and restore the Soviet Union. And despite his great desire, Ukrainians have not surrendered to Putin.

Hungary as an ally of Russia

ARD: Despite military support from the West, there have been no breakthroughs this year. What options do you see to end the war?

Yatsenyuk: The situation is more complicated because Russia is a country that cannot be underestimated. It is an extremely serious enemy. And despite the sanctions imposed, despite the military support for Ukraine, despite the unity in Ukrainian society, Russia manages to finance its military spending, circumvent the sanctions, mobilize its own population and even have allies.

And not just in the East, but also in the West. Because how else should I evaluate the behavior of Hungary and the Hungarian Prime Minister? He maintains relations with a country that has committed aggression against Ukraine and he opposes the policies of NATO and the European Union.

Disagreements “something natural”

ARD: There are differences of opinion between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his commander-in-chief Valery Zalushny. How do you rate that?

Yatsenyuk: This is something natural. And it is even normal when there is a dialogue, when there is a competition of ideas. The political leadership may have one vision, the military leadership another. The most important thing is that even if there are contradictions, the strength and wisdom lies in resolving these contradictions and finding a common position.

That is why I even publicly addressed both the President of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. We must not give any of our enemies even the slightest chance to believe that we have differences that could weaken the Ukrainian state. Hold a press conference together and show the whole world that even though we may have different approaches, we still have a single goal: the victory of the country.

EU accession “not an overnight process”

ARD: The path to the EU has always been important to you personally. Now Ukraine is closer than ever. Is Ukraine ready for accession negotiations?

Yatsenyuk: I have no doubt that Ukraine is ready to start negotiations to join the EU. And then there will be a lot of details. Here we must say honestly and openly that this is not an overnight process, and unfortunately it is not a one-year process either.

It looks like there will be a meeting of heads of state and government on December 14th. And now it is extremely important that the decision to open negotiations proposed by the European Commission to the European Council is adopted.

And that no one sets out to block this decision. Although the signals, especially from Hungary, do worry me. If we can do it within five to seven years, then I think it will be very good progress.

ARD: The longer the war lasts, the more Ukraine suffers. How long will society be able to endure this?

Yatsenyuk: There is always a limit. But we cannot say that we have reached the limit. Because reaching the border means losing the state. The loss of the state means the loss of the Ukrainian nation, Ukraine as such. That’s exactly what Putin is betting on. That’s why we are unlimited here.

“The country has changed during this time”

ARD: With today’s experience: What would you have done differently on the Maidan and as Prime Minister ten years ago?

Yatsenyuk: You know, in 2014 I was absolutely convinced that we would survive. I had no doubts. And we did it. Of course there were mistakes. It was the wrong personnel decisions, it was probably the speed of the reforms. Maybe also the quality of these reforms.

There were a lot of things that – from today’s perspective – could have been done better and more efficiently. But in 2014 we laid the foundation for a country that will be able to combat Russian aggression in 2022.

Because the country that I took over had ten thousand dollars in the state budget. For the whole country. There was no army, no police, no gas, no oil, no money, no budget. There was nothing. There were only debts and Russian mercenaries on the territory of Ukraine. The country changed during this time and was therefore able to resist and fight against Russia.

The interview was conducted by Vassili Golod, ARD Studio Kiev.