Conflict in Donbas among main challenges for Ukraine: former president
Xinhua,December 02, 2017 Adjust font size:
KIEV, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The armed conflict in the eastern Donbas region is one of the four main challenges for Ukraine at the current stage of development, former Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk said here on Friday.
"We need to take control over the situation to prevent it from transforming into a large-scale conflict," Kravchuk said during a public discussion dedicated to the 26th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence Referendum.
Among three others primary problems to be addressed by the Ukrainian authorities, Kravchuk named the widespread corruption, the high levels of poverty and the strained security situation.
On Dec.1, 1991, Ukraine held a referendum, where more than 90 percent of voters supported the country's independence from the former Soviet Union.
Five days later, Kravchuk was elected the first president of independent Ukraine and served as the head of the state until the resignation on July 19, 1994.
The armed confrontation between government troops and pro-independence rebels in eastern Ukraine started in April 2014. Some 10,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict. Enditem