According to the Ukrainian MFA chief, Dmytro Kuleba, not all of Ukraine's partners have a negative attitude towards Kremlin dictator and war criminal Vladimir Putin, even after the unleashed war.
Whyn't all partners of Ukraine share Kyiv's position towards the aggressor country
I think we have two conceptual problems. The first is that not even all our friends consider Putin evil. They still consider him a person, a leader who made a serious mistake for which he will have to pay, but not an evil that should be eliminated as a political concept, as a way of conducting international affairs, Kuleba notes.
In an interview with Foreign Affairs journalists, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that those who believe that the Kremlin dictator remains a political leader who allegedly made a severe mistake are offering a line favourable to the Kremlin.
But if you consider it an evil that must cease to exist in world affairs, I mean not physically, then of course that is a different strategy. And I think the problem is that even some of our friends still see Putin as a leader who made a mistake, not as a leader who turned evil. Despite all the lessons he learned from them during the last 20 years of his rule, Kuleba explains.
What is wrong with the policy of Ukraine's partners before the war unleashed by Russia
According to him, Ukraine remembers all the numerous attempts to agree with the Kremlin leadership, restart bilateral relations, appease the aggressor and attract cooperation. Still, all of them turned out to be unsuccessful.
And the second conceptual issue that we still face is the line that Russia should not win this war. We said from the first day that it would be more correct to say that Ukraine should win this war. Because Ukraine must win this war, and Russia must not win this war. These are also two different strategies, — emphasised the Ukraine's MFA chief.
Kuleba noted that these are the conceptual bases of the shortcomings of the current policy.
And I don't want to say that everything is wrong. In fact, what the West has done since February 24, 2022 is outstanding and wonderful, but it could have done much more if these two concepts had not stood in its way to victory. Therefore, it is time to remove these two concepts from the tools of our thinking and approach the situation in a different way, — urges Kuleba.
Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that reaching an agreement with Putin and pacifying him is impossible.
The strategy should be very simple, based on what we have already discussed. By military, political and economic means, put him in a situation where he himself will go for the option of saving face. And when I say "face-saving option", it means that thanks to his propaganda tools, he will be able to sell any solution to his own people. This is not a face-saving option for international affairs. This is only for his internal purposes, because obviously, the only thing he cares about is staying in power, the minister said.
