People Charged With Crimes

"The courts should be like courts, and not the shows of Tymoshenko the actor... Poroshenko the actor!"

"(During the opening of the Ukrainian Olympic house for Ukrainian athletes in London)It is wonderful that this event, it happens just before the thirteenth Olympic Games in London. The 2012 Olympic Games were 30th; the 13th Summer Olympics, also scheduled in London, never happened due to World War II."

"I would like to say that I am alive, although I cannot say that I feel very well, because I feel a deep and profound concern over what is happening in Ukraine now. Disguised behind a veneer of an allegedly legitimate government, there is a gang of ultranationalists and fascists now acting in Ukraine involving people who are now aspiring to presidential office. .. I would like to remind you that I am not only the -- not only the legitimate president of Ukraine, but I’m also the chief of staff, the commander of the army. .. The United States and a number of other countries have been stressing that I have allegedly lost my legitimacy because I fled the country. Let me say again: I never fled anywhere. .. I would like you to warn that the economic situation in Ukraine is going to degenerate, and those who usurp the power are going to shift the blame for this economic crisis on my shoulders, and perhaps even on Russia. .. And I would like to say: Glory to Ukraine, and I hope everything will be fine in my country."

"We've made a deal with Dmitry Anatolievich, we won't be talking about bad things, we'd rather do them instead."

"I understand that you have many "advisors", but you (Volodymyr Zelenskyy) are the person who must stop the bloodshed at all cost and get to a peaceful agreement."

"We are going to strive to the restriction of political dialogue (pause) erm, to the maintenance!"

"I would call on the president of Russia, Mr Putin, asking him to use the armed forces of the Russian Federation to establish legitimacy, peace, law and order, stability and defending the people of Ukraine."

"One should always remember that no victory can be achieved without losing. Burning bridges is never an option in politics, never. Such outrageous actions can have really bad consequences. I never took the liberty they afforded – to unleash war on an entire region, running people over with tanks and using artillery, and for what? For not liking you or treating you somewhat below par? Or having an opinion of their own about their future? This is wrong. If you take the history of any country, it never ended well for those who came to power through bloodshed. No amount of power is worth spilling even a drop of blood to obtain. That’s my fundamental principle, but they chose a different path."

"Well, after that, [there will] be the visit of the president of Ukraine, we have to deepen our cooperation, we have very, very many common topics."

"Ukraine is our strategic partner."

"All the achievements of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in the last two years - this is only the beginning on the road of the renaissance and the development of Transnistria and the whole of Ukraine. Yanukovych confused Придністров'я (Transnistria, an unrecognized state occupying part of Moldova) and Придніпров'я (Dnieper Region), where the oblast is located."

"Be as happy as the sea of Monaco, as the spoil tips of Donbas!"

"28 February 2014 Viktor Yanukovych urges Russia to act over Ukrainian bandit coup in The Guardian"

"Journalist: The freedom of the press is still OK, I can still ask you a question. Tell please, during the two years have you achieved your targets you've set, or are these not the tasks you've created?"

"And now, I wanted to tell everyone: "Welcome in Ukraine, welcome in Kyiv!""

"I think Russia should, and is obliged, to act, and knowing the character of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, I am surprised he is so restrained and keeping silent. As the current president of Ukraine, I want to say that Crimea should stay within the boundaries of Ukraine."

"I am against the idea when we, so to say, throw someone behind the bars, which is the place where they would hide and flee from responsibility. We will surely find them, but they first have to return public money."

"The main resource we have at our disposal is trust and the understanding of the need to get over the temporary difficulties of the contagiousness of reform implementation. (Yanukovych said "зарази" instead of "заради", meaning "in order to")"

"Looking at Putin, I wonder why he is so restrainingly silent."

"(During a visit of the president of Turkmenistan) The strategic economic and trade cooperation between Ukraine and Kazakhstan is of mutual interest."

"I supported the ostriches, what's wrong with that? They just lived there. What am I supposed to do, go around with my eyes closed?"

"...the Unification Act between Ukrainian People's Republic and Ukrainian People's Republic..."

"I may say without exaggeration that this is a revolutionary approach; it is very painful, because this system of permission was the underpinning of the great bureaucratic system on all levels. And that democratic system, a corrupt one, it has been built for years and decades."

"I didn't flee anywhere. I moved from Kyiv to Kharkiv. During my relocation I was shot at with weapons. The car which hid me from all sides was all in bullets. I appeared in Russia thanks to patriot officers, who have performed their duty and helped preserve my life. The representatives of the West and the USA are responsible for the Maidan. They have abetted Maidan. It is them who bear responsibility."

"(Speaking of the proposed increases of utility prices) I don't want to drop salt on the wound, as it already hurts"

"I would like to tell all residents of Yalta that I know and remember that today we are celebrating 150 years of the literary works of Chekhov - a Ukrainian, (looks up in his notes) Russian writer. And, it would be more accurate to say - 150 years of this figure in world culture. I will absolutely sign an order to renovate the museum of Chekhov in 2010, so that we needn't be ashamed of it, so that when the residents of Ukraine and of other countries come to Yalta, come to Crimea, they could see the landmarks and the biography and the history of that beautiful poet. The famous poet Anton Chekhov. We'll do that."

"Speaking of Alcântara Space Center...that's why all of the space programs that we have, which is, among others, the construction of the space centre in Brazil... eh, in the space centre in Balkantaura"

"Serious steps to implement reforms have been undertaken, the land reform, the retirement reform, and those of healthcare, education and urban management have been started; the conditions for the development of businesses are being distorted, fight against corruption is underway... Note. "Спотворювати" means "distort", he meant "створювати" (create)."

"...in the words of our compatriot Pavel Bessmertny... Yanukovych meant Pavel Besposhchadny"

"(Referring to those assembled at a rally) Why are these morons not dispersing?"

"Our sacred duty is to overcome the shadows of the past, make new tragedies possible. Any encroachments on the peaceful future of Ukraine will meet with instant and resolute response..."

"It is important for me to feel that the barometer, which the business is, helps me understand whether the winds blow the right way or not."

"I'd rather go to prison for the third time rather than let the current government [of Yulia Tymoshenko] assume power. It would cost the country less for one person to suffer than for the whole country to suffer."

"Healthcare is the field which should go ahead, like smoke from a steam train."

"I am forced to speak about it (the Customs Union) every day, all the day long, at least once a week..."

"Mustafa Nayyem: I understand from the previous experience that asking direct questions about the Mezhyhirya Residence is no good, therefore I will ask the following. Today you have indeed talked many times about the state of our economy being bad and that the people indeed don't feel the improvement yet, and that we don't have money for Chernobyl liquidators and for the veterans of the Afghan War, yet at the same time, every day we are witnessing the improvement of your personal wellbeing. We see how you rent a helicopter for a million dollars from the company which, according to the investigation in Ukrayinska Pravda, is owned or controlled by your son, we know that in Mezhyhirya, construction works are continued by the companies also controlled by your son. Tell me please - where's the inconsistency, what is your secret ingredient of success, why is the country ailing while you are feeling just fine? Thank you."

"There is a certain plan with concrete measures of how to do this [to get out of the economic crisis - note]. I don't want to announce it just yet for one simple reason: I don't want my opponents to make a mockery of it. We know them too well."

"Speaking of the agriculture, we should at least stop selling grain but instead we should process it, for example, into meat or meat products."

"My principles which I always follow are that no authority, no power is worth a drop of blood."

"The best genocides of the country have assembled here... Yeah, and the gene pool, too."

"My task is to create a strategy for Ukraine until 2010."

"(Speaking of an upcoming soccer match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Chelsea) This will be a match between Ukraine and Russia. I hope that Shakhtar wins and that the mood will help to fight."

"I'm being advised that this should be done before Euro 2012, but we shouldn't be limiting to that, dear colleagues. We shouldn't. And as a general matter, we believe that our... that the territory of our country has to be made unsafe for the life of our citizens, and when the guests arrive here, this should be even more the case."

"(Addressing World War II veterans on Victory Day) You have passed through the hell of war, (pause) with fascism you've fulfilled your duty to your fatherland until the end."

"I was in the opposition twice. I was in power twice before this, and this is my third time. Before this I was Prime Minister twice, and now I am President. The political process is constant, and our goal is for it to move forward under civilized rules, under the laws and for there to be no chance for politicians to abuse their power. .. But in our situation, we do not have the goal of locking up our political opponents. I can prove this, with facts. Let the opposition say the opposite. But watch the television, and you will see that the ruling government does not appear there at all. The opposition takes up 99% [of airtime]. They behave in a radical way, and nobody locks them up. .. I’m sure that the number of friends we have is only growing. We are open. We are not fooling anyone. We are pursuing a stable policy … We passed the tax code, the pension reform, the budget code, the customs code, now the criminal code. No one could do that in 20 years. People close their eyes and pretend not to see these things. Well, so be it. We’ll do it just for ourselves … If Europe has decided to take a pause, then so be it. It’ll probably work out for the best both for us and for Europe. If Europe does not see us as part of Europe, we will build Europe here in Ukraine."

"If we have worked for many years with Russia, then we had these rushed declarations - by the way, of Team Orange [Yushchenko - note] - that we're gonna change something, [create] some order... I'll say, it's not a balalaika: one stick and two strings do not make a country your personal thing."

"We support the complex approach that has been initiated in connection with sustainable energy for all, sustainable consumption and production, the elimination of hunger, and ensuring urban infrastructure development."

"Yesterday we had a photography procedure with President Obama, and during that short visit [there was] a short exchange of information, [and] President Obama asked me about the progress of the delivery of equipment to the labs that we are building in Kharkiv [and] which are going to work on low-enriched Iran. I said that the equipment was arriving on schedule."

"[Dear] participants of the press conference! Since I have that occasion, I would like to remind [everyone] that this year, Ukraine will celebrate the 125th anniversary of the [[w:Christianization of Kievan Rus'|baptism of the [Kievan] Rus']] Note. The baptism happened in 988."

"And then in 2003 there was a Ukraine-EU summit in Brussels, and just before that summit Romano Prodi from Ireland - you remember who he was - he said that Ukraine had no prospect of integration with the European Union..."