MEP: negotiations without a ceasefire are Putin's pipe dream
Kyiv • UNN
European politicians explained what guarantees EU countries can offer Ukraine. At the moment, peace negotiations without a ceasefire are simply Putin's pipe dream.
Peace talks without a ceasefire are a "pipe dream" of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Therefore, security guarantees for Ukraine must first be defined. This was stated by MEP, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, member of the U4U (European Parliament) steering committee Rihards Kols during a press briefing, UNN reports.
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The politician commented on what guarantees European countries can offer Ukraine.
I strongly support what President Zelenskyy said. First, we must define security guarantees, and then we can talk about any formats of peace negotiations. In our opinion, at this moment, from what we observe, peace talks without a ceasefire are simply Putin's pipe dream.
Kols noted that the situation is very difficult, as Russia has repeatedly violated agreements.
We have been observing this since 2014, we saw Minsk-1, Minsk-2. So this is a very difficult situation, so European leaders need to determine their capacity. I don't think there will be a collective security guarantee, despite someone talking about Article 5 (NATO - ed.), equivalent guarantees... If we talk about security guarantees, it must be massive military support for Ukraine.
In turn, Thomas Erndl, a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, spokesman for international policy and security of the CSU party in the Bundestag (Germany), also spoke about security guarantees.
We need a fair agreement as a prerequisite. Then we have to provide what is necessary to ensure our security. This can be defense support, closing the sky. I think this is a roundabout way and we have a long way to go before this issue is discussed, but it is really important to talk about these issues as well to be prepared.
Ann-Sofie Alm, a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (Sweden), emphasized that Ukraine must take a strong position before discussing security guarantees.
"Before we talk about security guarantees, Ukraine must take a strong position. We are making efforts to continue military support. But in addition to this, we must start working with Ukrainian companies, we cannot buy all the military aid that may be needed. We also have to produce what Ukraine needs," Alm said.