To achieve peace in Ukraine, hiding behind security guarantees only “on paper” will not work, and therefore a bold step would be to deploy European military forces in Ukraine already during peace talks, former Latvian President Valdis Zatlers said in an interview with Latvian Television’s Morning Panorama.
In his view, this would demonstrate that Europe is acting seriously. The ex-president compared it to NATO’s Article 5: “Even we sometimes fear whether we can fully trust security guarantees written on paper. So it is not clear how ‘paper cover’ could work in any matter when dealing with Russia,” Zatlers said.
Commenting on the diplomatic talks about a possible peace or ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, Zatlers assessed that Russia’s moves are “almost perfect” – trying to preserve its ability to wage war for as long as possible, while simultaneously creating the illusion of being open to cooperation and peace. “It is sad, because in these diplomatic games the United States is losing. No victories have been gained yet, and even the red carpet for [Russian dictator Vladimir] Putin gave nothing,” Zatlers argued.
He noted, however, that
a good opportunity to achieve peace in Ukraine could come at the moment when Putin can present himself inside Russia as the victor.
“In such a climate, the neighboring dictator might be ready to sign an agreement, because domestically he would not look like a loser. But it would be a very short moment, and it would quickly pass,” the ex-president explained.
He believes that before a full peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, there must first be a ceasefire; otherwise, it is not rational to negotiate while painful military strikes are ongoing. “First, the shooting has to stop, and then one must sit down at the table and begin discussing the points and conditions of a peace treaty,” said the former Latvian President.
Zatlers also expressed the view that, for the sake of peace, it might even be possible to temporarily step back from rhetoric about Ukraine’s accession to NATO – but to return to it later. “A couple of years will pass, there will be a different U.S. administration, a different president, and then we will say: ‘No, Ukraine will be in NATO!’” Zatlers predicted.
He is convinced that in order to achieve stability and peace in Europe, Ukraine must become a NATO member – especially given its strong and battle-tested army.
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