Ukraine will likely be compelled to make "brutally painful" decisions during negotiations. Reports TSN. This has been stated by Kontrakty.UA.
Such an opinion was expressed in an interview with Radio NV by former Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, who outlined four key points regarding the matter.
"It is absolutely clear that the decisions will be difficult and brutally painful for our emotions, not just in terms of politics, since politics is by nature cynical, but for us, for Ukrainians. I do not claim to provide you with an exclusive list of these decisions," the diplomat states.
Point 1
Klimkin reflects that Ukraine will not agree to legally recognize the occupied territories as Russian, but he suggests that the Americans will push for us to acknowledge this in a quasi-political sense.
"For instance, to say that we do not touch the occupied territories and they remain in that status," the former minister notes.
Point 2
Perhaps the Americans will suggest moving towards an option similar to that during the USSR for the Baltic states, Klimkin says (most countries, including the USA, refused to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states but took no actions against the USSR, silently agreeing to the existing status quo – Ed.)
Point 3
"The third point is that the Americans will definitely act with a carrot-and-stick approach. They will tell Putin: 'If things go badly, we will tighten the screws; if not too badly, we will loosen something.' And part of the sanctions will be lifted. The Europeans will do the same following the Americans," Klimkin explains.
Point 4
"The fourth point relates to defining our sovereignty, not in territorial terms, but in the context of our decisions – both domestic and foreign policy," the diplomat highlights.
He clarifies that in terms of foreign policy, this concerns Ukraine's accession to NATO and cooperation with the Alliance on our territory.
"And from the standpoint of domestic policy – the Russian regime will try to undermine Ukraine by any means, to fragment it, to introduce some variants of constitutional changes. This is not about elections, but about federalization," Klimkin states.
Additionally, he suggests that Russia will advocate for the rights of the Russian language and the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine.
"These will be attempts at creeping fragmentation of Ukraine, bringing us to the state of a country and state that has not been realized. In this sense, the Kremlin's strategy has not changed. They are prepared for the future," the former minister believes.
Security Guarantees Issue
One of the main issues Klimkin considers is what will be the factor that deters Russia from future aggression.
"We talk a lot about security guarantees, but we see that the current American administration is not ready to provide them. Serious guarantees would be either through NATO or serious multilateral or bilateral agreements. If there are no guarantees, then the question arises of what the logic of future deterrence will be. And then we return to the issue of deploying (foreign – Ed.) contingents on the territory of our country," he concluded.
Earlier, Pavlo Klimkin explained the logic of Europe advocating for the start of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.