A storm of criticism was caused by the suggestion made by the French president that its need be taken into account of Russia to obtain guarantees of her safety if she puts an end to war in Ukraine, both from the side of Kiev and from its Baltic allies. Mihailo Podoliak, top adviser to the president Volodymyr Zelenskyhe said that the rest of the world needs security guarantees from Russia, not the other way around.
“The civilized world needs ‘security guarantees’ from Russia’s barbaric intentions after (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Mr Podoliak said via Twitter yesterday.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, overstated, declaring that a “denuclearized and demilitarized” Russia would be the best guarantee for peace not only in Ukraine but worldwide. Who wants to offer “security guarantees to a terrorist and murderous state?” asked Mr. Danilov via Twitter. “Instead of Nuremberg signing an agreement with Russia and exchanging handshakes,” he added, referring to the trials of Nazi war criminals after World War II.
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to find a solution to the conflict have been stalled for months. Kyiv says it will only accept a resumption if Russia stops its offensive and withdraws from all Ukrainian territory it has seized. The Kremlin, for its part, is demanding that the West recognize the annexation of “new territories” to Russia before talks with Mr. Putin can take place, as Reuters reports and the Athens News Agency relays.
US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland judged that the Russian president’s insistence on recognizing the annexations shows that he is not sincere and serious when he talks about peace talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has so far not publicly commented on what Mr Macron said in a televised interview.
David Arahamiya, a member of parliament and a member of the Ukrainian team of negotiators when the talks were held, said he would set four conditions for security guarantees to be offered to Russia: “leave the territory of our country, pay reparations, punish all war criminals and voluntarily hand over its nuclear weapons,” he said via Telegram. “After that, we’ll be ready to sit down at the table and talk about security guarantees.”
Emmanuel Macron’s remarks were also criticized by government officials in the Baltic states and states neighboring Russia.
Former Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb stressed that he “fundamentally” disagrees with the president of France. “Russia must first guarantee that it will not attack others.”
A similar view was expressed by former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius, for whom security guarantees should be given to Russia only as long as it does not “attack, annex or impose occupation” on its neighbors. “If anyone wants a new security architecture to be created that allows a terrorist state to continue its methods of intimidation, they need to think again, this is not going to happen,” he added.
In May, the French president also drew criticism from Kyiv and others when he said Russia must not be “humiliated” so a diplomatic solution to the war could be found.
Source: News Beast
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