ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: People in Ukraine will vote for a new President today.  The country has of course seen months of unrest between pro-Russian and pro-European groups so will the polls unite the country.  Well I’m joined now by the Ukrainian Ambassador to London, Volodymyr Khandogiy, a very good morning to you Mr Ambassador.  The hope is of course that this poll will offer legitimacy to the interim regime and will do something to further unite the country. 

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: Yes, indeed, this is something that we hope and we are convinced that united country is a very important development and very important event in the history of Ukraine, in particular in the history of the modern Ukraine.  There are too many threats around this but we are convinced that the vote will take place, the will of the people will be demonstrated and we will have a new president which will unite the country.

DM: But will it be the will of all the people of Ukraine including those who face more towards Russia?

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: Well there will be as we see now certain areas in Ukraine that will not be able to vote due to the sabotage and destruction organised by so-called separatists or terrorists so we might not get 100% figure but the overwhelming majority of the population will participate in the vote. 

DM: But is then the expectation, as you say, if that vote is taking place, even if they were voting that they would vote for their Russian separatist parties but in your book they are still part of Ukraine, they must remain part of Ukraine and you’ll take whatever action to make that stay that way?

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: Absolutely, there is no question of that, that is part of the Ukraine that is now being threatened by certain separatist and terrorist forces but this is the part of Ukraine and the people there want to vote, it is obvious.  The only thing that is happening is that they are not being given the chance to vote but like I said, it is a small minority and whatever happens, the turnout and the results of the vote will be recognised as the genuine thing. 

DM: You talk about a small minority but it crystallises that minority and some of that minority are very well armed and don’t want to stay as part of Ukraine, doesn’t it heighten the possibility of some form of civil war?

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: I don't think we are talking about the possibility of a civil war.  What we are talking about is the terrorist activities that are going on in the Eastern part of Ukraine and government is trying to control this situation.  Certainly because of the elections, government is trying to ease this situation without very forthcoming and strict actions against separatists but I am sure the situation will be under control soon. 

DM: Well let’s look at the international dimensions, at some point then the administration in Kiev will have to attempt to normalise or certainly get close to normalising relations with Russia, that is just so far away at the moment.

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: Ukrainian authorities always try to normalise relations with Russia but what has to be done in the first place is that Russia has to denounce the support for the separatist forces and of course there are issues there which is still in the way of normalising relations with Russia but there is a genuine desire of the Ukrainian authorities to get themselves engaged into negotiations with Russia.

DM: What was your reaction, your analysis of the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles’s reported comments while he was on tour in Canada, likening what President Putin has done with Crimea with some of the actions that Hitler took in annexing territories before the Second World War.

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: Well I would rather not comment on that, certainly being a foreign national here, this is something that it is up to the British public to discuss. 

DM: But your analysis then, are there similarities – and of course all historical situations are different – but this was an annexation in your book of Ukrainian territory.

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: Absolutely notwithstanding what the was said by anybody, the similarity is there. 

DM:     The similarity with Adolph Hitler’s activities in the 1930s?   

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: If you look at the history, you can certainly find out there is a lot of similarities there. 

DM: Okay and so when it comes to the administration being elected, being formed, talking about the international dimensions you need to normalise hopefully with Russia, what support can the west offer you with that?

VOLODYMYR KHANDOGIY: Well first of all we are talking as you will understand about the presidential elections, we will have a new president.  Now the support that we can … we need all the support we can get, political support, moral support, economic support, whatever support can be offered to Ukraine we are ready to accept it and I would like to emphasise that we are already getting a lot of support and we appreciate that, we are grateful to the British government for instance for the political and moral and economic support in fighting the consequences of the aggression against Ukraine in Crimea and now we are getting that support, almost 3000 monitors during these elections, about a hundred of them are from Great Britain.

DM: Good to hear.  Listen, thank you very much indeed Mr Ambassador, very good of you to come here, that’s Volodymyr Khandogiy, the Ukrainian Ambassador to London.