Yakutsk, Russia - The Kyiv authorities are unwilling to have a substantive political dialogue with southeastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Putin told BBC reporter John Sweeney on Sept. 1 he believed that the main reason [for the problem] was the unwillingness of the incumbent Kyiv authorities to maintain a substantive political dialogue with the eastern areas of their country.
As to the militia, Putin said their goal was to move the Ukrainian army away from big cities of the east.
The goal of the militia forces is to move away the armed forces and their artillery and to not let them fire at residential areas, the Russian president said.
