Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Russia’s Ambassador to the UK, Andrei Kelin, about the talks between Russia and the USA over Ukraine, Europe's attempts to provide security guarantees and what there is to stop Russia wanting more territory if it gets everything it wants in this negotiation. Report by Covellm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00One is that Ukraine should be a neutral, non-nuclear state,
00:05as it is stated in the initial version of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence of 1991.
00:10And second is that, of course, the right of minorities in Ukraine should be fully re-established.
00:19It means so-called denazification.
00:22Does Ukraine then get to be a sovereign country?
00:26Ukraine is a sovereign country.
00:29Well, a sovereign country gets to decide on its alliances and its memberships,
00:35and its neutrality or otherwise.
00:37We have started a conversation with Americans in Riyadh on a very interesting note.
00:43They have said that initially, of course, the most important is the principle of protection of national interest.
00:50But they do realize that other countries have their own national interests and security interests as well,
00:57and they have to be taken into account.
01:00But you see the point. It's not real sovereignty if you don't get to choose.
01:06No, no, no. I'm speaking that Ukraine is not only on the Western side.
01:11It is not alone. It is our neighbor.
01:14And every country should take into account interests of the neighboring countries.
01:20So Ukraine, if it would like to continue its normal peaceful existence,
01:26and look, it should take into account our interests and be friendly.
01:31Be friendly, not be hostile to us.
01:34So this is not really going to be a free country, is it?
01:37Why? Why?
01:39That is funny. It is a free country, live normally in a free world.
01:43They do not wage war with each other.
01:46No, but a free country gets to decide whether it's a sovereign country or not.
01:48France and Germany have long ago agreed that they do not hate each other,
01:53and they live peacefully in spite of a very long history of contradiction.
01:57Why we cannot live with Ukraine normally?