© TACC
This would never be allowed in the US, according to FBI agents. Police would counter with deadly force.
What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV: Our guest in New York [Mr. Peter Sinnott] is basically saying that the situation in Ukraine has nothing to do with external forces and is basically homegrown and a simple reaction to a government that the people no longer wanted, your take, sir.
Jatras: I think it's much more complicated than that. Certainly there are strong homegrown elements in Ukraine because there are very sharp divisions among people in Ukraine.
In the United States, we're familiar with the concept of the red states and blue states, and the divisions in Ukraine are far sharper and far more fundamental than even those in the United States.
Regarding this idea for example that the European orientation for Ukraine is something that the Ukrainian people wanted, this is not entirely true. Yes, a very large portion of the Ukrainian people want that but a very large portion of the Ukrainian people want a close relationship with Russia.
That's why it's a huge mistake of the Western powers to insist that Ukraine must have a single, pro-Western orientation.
Let's keep in mind too, the European Union was never offering Ukraine membership. They went out of their way to offer even the distant prospect of membership that this was purely a trade agreement and one that would lock Ukraine into a Western orientation essentially against Russia and against Ukraine's economic benefit especially in the eastern part of the country.
Comment: See also:
Is Ukraine drifting toward civil war and great power confrontation?
US and EU are paying Ukrainian rioters and protesters
"F**k The EU" - U.S. State department blasts Europe; revealed as alleged mastermind behind Ukraine unrest