Interior Minister says Yanukovych “expired” politician

The Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrskyi commented on the alleged intentions of the Russian leadership to reinstall the fugitive ex-President Viktor Yanukovych to the post of the head of the Ukrainian state.

The corresponding comment was aired on Ukraine 24 TV channel, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“I have no interest in traitors – perhaps only as someone to detain or eliminate on the territory of Ukraine. If we talk about him being used (by the Russian leadership, as a candidate for President of Ukraine - ed.), it seems to me that he’s already a used product for Ukrainians and "he can no longer be used in any other country, especially in Ukraine. His term of use has long expired," the minister said.

As reported by a number of media outlets over the past weeks, Russian authorities expect to reinstate fugitive ex-President Viktor Yanukovych as head of the Ukrainian state.

Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of the President's Office, said that the mention of Yanukovych's name in the context of a possible puppet presidency in Ukraine shows how oblivious Russia is about the real moods in Ukraine.

On March 7, it was reported that Yanukovych's plane had landed in Minsk. On the same day, the third round of talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place in Belarus.