Today at 20:28
Access to the state borders on February 23, 2022 for Ukraine is only an intermediate goal. Reaching the 1991 borders is the ultimate goal. However, in order to achieve it, several intermediate goals must be met. Political scientist Anton Kuchukhidze said this on the air of the FREEDOM marathon on the UA TV channel:
“Based on public statements by the military-political leadership of Ukraine, it is obvious that the first task is to reach the actual borders (as of) on February 23, and then liberate all territories. The President of Ukraine himself said that our country should return to those recognized in 1991 borders. Therefore, there can be no ambiguity, “
Kuchukhidze stressed that the severity of the war influences the formation of political positions. Today, Ukraine can only have such a position that it occupies:
“Reaching the borders on February 23, 2022, was considered an intermediate task for the implementation of the strategy to liberate all territories. The idea was that, subject to the return of the status quo, any negotiations are possible. But no one guaranteed the success of these negotiations. Since then, the Russians have committed a colossal number of crimes against the civilian population and, in fact, left neither Ukraine nor the West the opportunity to count on their adequacy in the negotiation process. The political situation around the war has changed a lot.”
According to Kuchukhidze, during the negotiations, the Russian delegation showed its inadequacy by talking about the Nazis in Ukraine:
They showed the Ukrainian delegation that they needed negotiations only to legitimize their invasion of Ukraine and the seizure of certain territories. Ukraine could not agree to this, and the war went according to a completely different scenario. Europe and USA gave the green light to the Minsk agreements and imposed sanctions tied to them. They were clearly convinced that the Russian side would fulfill its obligations. However, in eight years they simply gathered a group, built a military infrastructure near the borders of Ukraine, and went to war.”
The expert believes that the negotiations between Zelensky and Putin may be around the conclusion of a peace treaty that will determine the rules for the coexistence of the two states:
“You need to understand the mechanics and essence of the negotiations. Will they be about the military defeat of Russia or what? It will be determined by the outcome of events on the battlefield. In order to remove the Russian problem from the agenda once and for all, the Russian Federation must lose in this war. The Ukrainian army is effective, and the military-political leadership of Ukraine has tremendous confidence among Western partners. Europe has finally understood one thing: today Ukraine is fighting not only for itself but at least for all of Central and Eastern Europe, which the Russian Federation has repeatedly threatened.”
