Europe may be taking a risk and playing into the hands of Russia’s nationalists by increasing sanctions against Moscow, said Mikhail Khodorkovsky today in an interview with BBC World Radio.

Instead, he urged EU leaders to help Ukraine become more stable, saying this could encourage change in Russia.

Khodorkovsky, who has made two separate visits to Ukraine this year in an attempt to open up a dialogue among cultural and intellectual figures of both countries, tells the BBC that he doesn’t think President Vladimir Putin wants to invade Eastern Ukraine, however the country has entered a “slow burn civil war.”

Mr Putin has “lost control” of events Donetsk and Luhansk after pro-Russia separatists went forward with a referendum, Khodorkovsky says.

However, in the current environment, Khodorkovsky argues, nationalist sentiment is very high after the annexation of Crimea, and will likely only get stronger if Russia finds itself isolated from the West. The priority for the European Union should be focusing on political reform in Kiev, he commented.

Khodorkovsky’s BBC interview has been covered widely in the Russian media, including on News.Mail.Ru.

Read more and listen to the interview on the BBC website.