Ukraine is studying the experience of a number of countries, including those that are neutral, including Sweden, Finland, and Austria, but also countries that are members of NATO – Germany and Norway.
This was stated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with “Ukrayinska Pravda”.
"Of course we study the experience of every country, not only Sweden, not only Finland, not only Austria, not only Norway, not only Germany – every country, literally. But we are looking for our optimal model, and this model is based on two key principles,” he said. “The first principle is the inviolability of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Legally, this is absolutely not a subject for negotiation. And the second principle is strict security guarantees."
According to the Minister, Ukraine needs the following guarantees that exist in NATO, "That is, if someone attacks us, others undertake to protect us in one way or another, which must be spelled out in detail. Then this system can work."
"But it would be madness on our part to demand such guarantees only from Russia. We all know very well what Russia is like,” he added. “That's why we say that we need comprehensive guarantees from all key players. These are the two principles that underlie our approach. How and where we will go in the negotiation process is a completely different story. But we will not deviate from these two principles."
When asked about the draft agreement, which was written about by “The Financial Times”, Dmytro Kuleba said that this is a Russian position, not an option agreed upon by both sides.
"Russia came, laid down their documents and said, “These are our demands.” Our delegation took this document, began to study it, to make counter-arguments,” he said. “That is, the information in ”The Financial Times” was presented in such a way that it is already a basis for bilateral dialogue and discussions, that we are allegedly agreeing on all these things. In fact, these are Russian proposals to which Ukraine cites its counter-arguments.
The negotiations on the Belarusian track are like a trench war. They are sitting in their trenches, we are sitting in our trenches, and we are shooting at each other with arguments. Therefore, it is not true to claim that we have accepted all these things and have already agreed on everything."
According to Dmytro Kuleba, "We all need to remember that there are two finals in any war."
"The first final is an unconditional, total defeat of one of the parties. This is what the Russians wanted to impose on us from the very beginning by putting forward such a document,” he said. “The second final is a deal. The agreement is a search and fixation of mutually acceptable solutions. Therefore, from the point of view of Ukraine, not from the point of view of Russia, we must clearly and soberly understand that either we must prepare for war to the end, as a result of which we totally and unconditionally defeat Russia, or there must be an agreement on favourable conditions for Ukraine. I think the second option is still realistic. Therefore, we must understand as a society, as a state to end the war, we need an agreement. And Ukrainian diplomacy is working to make this agreement as beneficial as possible for Ukraine."