Ihor Liski: "We would have much more weapons and capabilities if we offered the world a clear plan to defeat Russia"
"Today we are tackling a very difficult topic that everyone is avoiding. Because there is a war going on, people are dying, there is hatred, there is a great demand for justice, for punishment of Russia and Russians who allowed their government to unleash this war. It's a complicated issue, but I think we need to talk about it now," Liski said.
He stressed that any discussion of the matter must include Ukraine.
"It's no secret that an important factor in helping Ukraine is understanding how to contain Russia and what to do with it. Our Western partners do not yet have an answer to this. And I would very much like Ukraine to contribute significantly to understanding what Russia should be like in the future. We should take an active position in this regard," the businessman said.
In his opinion, post-war relations with Russia, no matter how "long or painful this war may be", should be built on three key principles.
"The first principle is that Ukraine should be a member of NATO and the EU. This is the first principle based on which we can have any relations with Russia. We have to be in NATO and the European Union, take a proactive position in these structures, build relations with Russia not only on behalf of Ukraine, but also on behalf of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation," Liski said. And not after the victory, but already, he added.
The second principle is intellectual capacity.
"Once again, I come back to the fact that the world does not yet have an answer to what it wants Russia to become, how to bring back the civilised component there. Everyone understands that it is a monkey with a nuclear grenade, and until we have this answer, it is difficult to predict even our victory. No one believes that Navalny will pop up somewhere and they will suddenly become normal. And the world doesn't believe it either.
I'm not a politician, I can say banal and cynical things for reality check. But I am sure that we would have much more weapons and capabilities if we offered the world a clear plan to defeat Russia. We need this simple and understandable plan for the world," he said.
And the third principle based on which we should theoretically consider resuming relations with Russia is economic partnership.
"We need Poland and Turkey as our great allies to cut Russia off from the civilised world. So that we, having a partnership, can try to build relations with Russia from the position of power and pressure," Liski went on.
"And we definitely need to examine Russia. I am sure that there should be a European or even a NATO centre for Russian studies in Kyiv, Ukraine. And it would be great if we had a proactive position in this," he added.
