THE Ukraine crisis is becoming a threat to world peace and former Soviet leader and the last president of Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev sounded a warning recently asking western leaders to exercise their statesmanship to avoid a ‘hot war’ this time after the end of the ‘cold war’ that brought peace to the European continent after the Second World War. Gorbachev blamed the West and the US in particular for “dragging” Russia into an unwilling war in comments to Interfax news service and feared it may prove devastating to everyone at the end. Mr. Gorbachev was widely known as a western friend and man of reasons in the Russian establishment and criticized by old communists for his liberal economic policies and political reforms that led to the break up of the Soviet Union. His latest comments on the situation therefore deserve utmost consideration. The Ukraine war has already cost more than 5,000 lives since last spring when it flared up from a domestic political crisis to a European crisis and in Mr Gorbachev’s words the US thirst for “dominance” on the door of Russia is solely responsible for the crisis. The west has meanwhile, further deteriorated the situation by enforcing sanctions on Russia in several phases bringing pressure on Moscow sending the value of rubble to plummeting. The fall in oil price further accelerated crisis in the Russian economy contributing to making Russia a partner to the evolving hot war. But all these measures so far failed to dissuade Russia from helping the separatists in Eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel went on a visit to Kiev on Thursday amidst growing casualties in the battle-field. The US Secretary of State John Kerry is also visiting Kiev at the same time while the two European leaders are expected to put forward a new peace plan in Kiev before meeting the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday. The crisis in Ukraine began on 21 November 2013, when the then President Viktor Yanukovych set aside implementation of an association agreement with the European Union. He was then ousted by pro-west ultra-nationalists and fled to Moscow. An ensuing political crisis led to the annexation of Crimea with Russia. Subsequently, pro-Russian forces in Donetsk and Luhansk declared them as self-proclaimed ‘republics’.Ukraine is in global news headlines almost everyday as battles of control is raging on the ground with scores of daily casualties including armed and non-armed civilians. The Kiev government is finding it hard to reestablish control over the break-way eastern republics. News report said Washington is considering to directly supplying war equipment to Kiev and it is bound to further escalate the situation. Mr Gorbachev sounded the warning at a time when the Ukraine crisis is heading towards a major regional conflict and we hope warmongers on both sides will listen to the voice of humanity to stop the situation drawing to a bigger war. Leaders must find a political solution instead of fighting the war.
