HAIFA, May 11, /ITAR-TASS/. Gennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkov, who survived an assassination attempt and is now undergoing medical treatment in Israel, has called on Russia and Ukraine to make steps towards each other.

“I would like to tell the following to Russia and Ukraine: let us be going to meet each other halfway,” he said in an interview with Russian journalists on Sunday.

“We have common history, we have relations of close kinship. If we drop our hostile position towards each other and take a more constructive attitude, it will be beneficial for future generations and our states will be together again.”

He said he wanted Kharkov to “an inseparable part of Ukraine,” but the power should be decentralized. “I say yes to decentralization of power,” he stressed. “I have been advocating this position and support the government on this matter.”

Gennady Kernes, 54, was badly wounded in the back in an assassination attempt on April 28. The attempt took place when he was jogging along a highway in Kharkov. Overnight to April 29, he was taken to a private hospital in Israel’s Haifa. Later, he was taken to the Haifa-based Rambam medical centre, where he was operated. After the surgery he was taken to the Elisha Hospital in Haifa.

As of today, he said he was feeling well enough. He said the attempt on his life had been politically motivated however he refrained from comment on possible organizers of this attempt.