MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The agreement reached in Kyiv to hold an early presidential election is Ukraine's internal affair, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Vladimir Lukin said.
"This is not our problem. This is a Ukrainian problem. It is their problem with one another (between the authorities and the opposition)," Lukin told Interfax on Friday night after returning to Moscow from Kyiv.
"The fact is, we are not quite clear what role we have in this affair. The problem of a dialogue between the two Ukrainian sides is their business, we are not meddling. In this case we are witnesses," said Lukin, who was sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Kyiv yesterday with a mediating mission.
"We must clarify our position and our role. We want to be useful, but without interfering in this country's internal affairs, by helping but without assuming obligations that are not entirely clear," he said.
"There is a chance of peace. But now everything depends on Ukraine, what they want for themselves. Do they want a standoff and clashes? Or do they want to talk to each other? We have always been willing to help to the extent Ukraine considers our help necessary. You can't force everyone to like you," he said.