Dozens of British based Ukrainians from the SaveUkraine movement have gathered outside Parliament Square to protest against what they believed to be the Russian Government’s “overly aggressive behaviour” in invading the Crimea region of Ukraine.
They are calling on Prime Minister David Cameron to impose what they call “Iran style” sanctions. These will be directed towards those in the Kremlin, Russian owned firms, which would include visa bans and asset freezes on the super wealthy Russians living in London. They also called on the British Government to supply military and defence weapons to the Ukrainians and that they should also act as a guarantor of the Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity under the Budapest memorandum. They say this will stop Vladimir Putin’s mad grab of Ukraine.
The ‘SaveUkraine’ movement held up several banners whilst chanting “Hands off Ukraine”.
The peaceful 30 strong protest took place on the 25th February just in front of the House of Commons building and seemed to have the support of passers-by and cars driving by tooting their horns.
In an interview on Russian television yesterday, Mr Putin revealed his involvement for the first time in the annexation of Crimea from the Ukraine. He told his security chiefs that they would be “obliged to start working to return Crimea to Russia”.
Speaking to Holloway Express, the spokesman for the SaveUkraine movement, Sergly Burnus said: “Every single agreement for a ceasefire has always been violated by the Russians. So the only way to protect the Ukrainians from the Russians is proper military support for the Ukrainian army because Russian invasion continues on a daily basis”. The stance of the movement is to have military intervention from the West rather than relying on more diplomatic efforts.
Meanwhile, the conflict has claimed almost 5,000 lives and has brought serious tension between Russia and the West that has not been seen since the Cold War. US President Barak Obama has said that sanctions would be increased, which would include embargoes on Russian banks, energy companies, and target the business interests of certain individuals. He also added that since Russia has failed to comply with any mediated talks, troops as well as heavy weapons will be sent to the borders of Ukraine.
Leave a Reply