Former Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Chaly demanded to start a dialogue with Russia and not rely on US and NATO assistance. On Wednesday, October 20, he announced this on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel “Nash”.
He noted that there are many experts and politicians in Ukraine who are guided by the principle “the worse are the relations of the West with Moscow – all the better”.
“I think this opinion is wrong, because these threats make a conflict between Ukraine and Russia more likely. <…> If such a struggle begins, the collective West, at best, will give us money and verbal support, but physically they will not be on a par with us. Because the United States is an ally with a small letter, ”Chaly said.
The diplomat stressed that the dialogue with Russia is not only a realistic and pragmatic, but also a pro-Ukrainian policy.
A day earlier, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, recalled that Russia was not involved in the conflict in Ukraine. The Permanent Representative noted that the EU’s idea of what is happening in Ukraine is still distorted. The European Union, as Kiev wants, perceives Russia as a party to the conflict.
On October 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he was interested in meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in any format. In addition, he announced the chances for a meeting of the Normandy Four (Germany, Russia, Ukraine, France). The Ukrainian president said that Kiev is ready for it.
On October 15, the adviser to the head of Zelensky’s office, Oleksiy Arestovich, said that Ukraine had begun to work out a number of scenarios in the event of a military conflict with Russia. In Kiev, he pointed out, they proceed from the fact that “the war with Russia is already underway” and under certain conditions may acquire the format of a full-scale conflict.
Relations between Russia and Ukraine have deteriorated since a coup d’etat took place in Ukraine in 2014. Kiev launched a military operation against Donbass, whose residents did not agree with the results of the change of power, and the Crimean authorities decided to hold a referendum on reunification with Russia. As a result of the referendum, 96.77% of Crimean voters and 95.6% of Sevastopol residents voted for the entry of the peninsula into the Russian Federation.
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