The right answer for Russia is the Western-NATO partnership with Ukraine; Minsk talks are useless / Article / LSM.lv

Given the tensions in Russia’s relations with Ukraine, the right response from the West and NATO would be a stronger partnership with Ukraine, including arms supplies. In turn, the Minsk format talks are meaningless, the Minister of Defense Artis Pabriks (“For Development / Par”) admitted in an interview with the Latvian Radio program “Krustpunkta”.

Pabriks took the concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine very seriously. However, in his opinion, large-scale military activity should not be in the near future.

The minister admitted that by doing so, Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to test the unity of the new US President Joe Biden and the West, including US-European cooperation, and try to “squeeze something extra with the threat of war.”

Pabriks assessed that the previous talks in the Minsk format had been rather useless and unsuccessful. “And to a large extent, the offer that the West wants to offer to Ukraine through the Minsk format for the sake of dear peace, and Russia also wants to offer, is essentially the infiltration of the so-called Donbass uprising into the Kiev parliament. This is no longer in Ukraine’s interests. And I think that could be one of the pressures that, for the sake of dear peace, for example, France or Germany could offer Putin as candy so that he no longer threatens war. The second possibility is a real war, “said Pabriks, acknowledging that he was very concerned about the diplomatic talks.

Regarding Ukraine’s desire to accelerate NATO accession, Pabriks said that the first step would be to offer a stronger partnership to Ukraine.

“It would be the right response for the Russians. If the Russians want to do themselves any good with such military pressure on Ukraine’s borders, then the best answer from the West would be not to lift our paws, but to say: dear friends, we also understand the language of power, we are ready to speak, but if you do, we “Of course, let’s move forward at an increased pace,” said Pabriks.

According to him, Western countries should consider the possibility of selling weapons to Ukraine. “We must stop ignoring Ukraine’s interests, because Russia, as an aggressor, can get everything, while a number of our allies continue to say that both sides must respect peace and both must make concessions. We must help the Ukrainians to defend themselves, “Pabriks added.

CONTEXT:

In recent weeks, concerns about the situation in Eastern Ukraine have been significantly increased. At the end of March, Ukraine reported that Russia was concentrating its troops on the Ukrainian border and that Moscow-backed separatist militants were constantly violating last year’s ceasefire agreement.

In the spring of 2014, a conflict began in the eastern part of Ukraine. Soon after the Crimean Autonomous Region of Ukraine annexed by Russia. In February 2015 in Minsk with the participation of the leaders of Germany and France, as well as the President of Russia agreement has been reached on 13 points in the peace plan, which provided for a ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists. Since then, both sides in the conflict have reported violations of the ceasefire from time to time.

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