Jordanians pay condolences to Ukraine at embassy

AMMAN — Officials, deputies and representatives of the private sector and average people visited the Ukrainian embassy in Amman on Monday to express their condolences over the loss of life in the recent unrest in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian embassy in Amman opened a book of condolences on Monday to honour the victims of the violence. It will be open on Tuesday as well, from 10am to 3pm at its offices, 6 Umouma Street near the 7th Circle.

Nearly 100 people have been killed in a police crackdown on popular protests against president Viktor Yanukovych, who has been ousted, Agence France-Presse reported.

Ukraine’s parliament on Sunday appointed an interim leader after Yanukovych fled Kiev, in the dramatic finale to three months of protests, AFP said.

On Monday, Ukraine’s interim government issued an arrest warrant for Yanukovych over the “mass murder” of protesters and appealed for $35 billion in Western aid to pull the crisis-hit country from the brink of economic collapse, AFP reported.

From February 18-22, Ukraine lost 88 people in an “unusual tragic situation”, Ukrainian Ambassador to Jordan Sergiy Pasko said.

The Ukrainian ministry of health said that 645 people requested medical assistance and 423 of them were admitted to hospitals.

“A preparatory session was held at the parliament on Monday for new laws to better the Ukrainian economy, which is undergoing a difficult situation,” Pasko told The Jordan Times in an interview at the embassy.

The Ukrainian ambassador stressed that the situation is calm in the country at present.

Citing embassy figures, Pasko said around 1,084 Ukrainian women are married to Jordanians, and around 500 Ukrainians are working in Jordan.