At the same time, as Scholz emphasized, the “basis” for peace negotiations should be the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine. According to the chancellor, the West will also not make decisions instead of the Ukrainians regarding the settlement of the military conflict. He also promised to provide further support to Kyiv from Berlin.
“It is very difficult to judge what will happen next in Ukraine, but there is something absolutely clear: we will continue to support Ukraine with financial, humanitarian aid, as well as weapons,” the German chancellor added.
Security guarantees for Ukraine
In September 2022, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen proposed creating a document on a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the states that would become guarantors of its security.
Such guarantors, according to the document, may include the United States, Great Britain, Germany, France, Canada, Poland, and some other countries. The recommendations suggest that Ukraine’s key allies make clear commitments to support its military, while a broader group of countries provide non-military security guarantees that are based on sanctions mechanisms.
According to the idea, the package of guarantees will include measures that the allies must take without delay in the event of an encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
At the same time, Yermak emphasized that an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine should not be a substitute for its entry into NATO – it will serve as a way to ensure security until this entry takes place.
- Even before the start of the military conflict, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called on the international community to give Kyiv security guarantees that would not be inferior to those of the NATO countries.
- Yermak in July 2022 stated that the new system of security guarantees should not repeat the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, after the signing of which Ukraine abandoned nuclear weapons. In September 2022, Zelensky noted that peace in Ukraine would come only after the country was provided with security guarantees.
- According to former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who mediated negotiations between Moscow and Kiev after the outbreak of hostilities, Russia opposes Ukraine’s insistence on security guarantees because “it’s essentially no different from NATO.”
Source : RTVI
