Ukraine seeks to cut diplomatic relations with Russia but has not been able to do this yet, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.
He said at a news conference on 18 January that diplomatic relations with Russia have de fact been limited to the protection of Ukrainian nationals but it is too much work to be handed over to another country.
"I am often asked about diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation. It is an important moment but let us understand: over 2.5 million Ukrainians are in the Russian Federation, 70 political prisoners are both in Russia and in occupied Crimea, now there are our guys who are prisoners of war. Certainly, we are holding consultations with some of our partners and friends on whether they can represent our interests. I will not name the countries because it is a matter of politeness. But this is a crazy volume of work, as I said, crazy. So far none of them has been prepared to do as much work as our consuls do even approximately," he said.
"[Diplomatic relations] have been minimized to absolute minimum and aimed at the protection of our citizens. However, we are looking for a formula and once we find it, we will certainly use it," he said.