Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych does not lay claim to power, but is thinking about the means to resolve the conflict and restore Donbas, Yanukovych said.

"It is not about me, but what comes next. And what comes next is my biggest concern. I've heard that I seek power, but I don't, I don't think about that, I think about how to stop war, how to return people to their native land, restore Donbas," he said during a press conference in Rostov-on-Don.

He said that he has not left Russia since 2014.

"Ukraine was divided not by my not signing an agreement on the creation of a free trade zone," he said.

He expressed hope that the current Ukrainian authorities will be able to sit down at the negotiating table and unite the country. "I hope the authorities will have wisdom and strength to sit down at the negotiating table, unite the country, bring back hundreds of thousands of refugees not only from Donbas, but the entire Ukraine, and return people a future," Yanukovych said.