Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protests against President Zeman’s statements

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned the Czech Ambassador to Kiev Ivan Počuch to protest against some of President Zeman’s recent statements relating to Ukraine. The ministry did not specify which statements it found offensive, but said the Czech president’s evaluation of the crisis in Ukraine was “unacceptable” and undermined the two countries’ traditionally good relations. According to the Ukrainian news agency Unian the ministry was referring to statements that Mr. Zeman made in a recent interview for Russian television in which he described the situation in Ukraine as a civil war and criticized the EU sanctions against Russia.