According to Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev, Ukraine’s strength and power are now based on three pillars: Defence forces, the unity of the country, and the assistance of partners — Europe and the United States, first and foremost. The diplomat is convinced that strengthening each of these pillars will enhance our negotiating position.
How our partners can strengthen us
Here, the diplomat identifies five main points:
- Receiving weapons from our partners. “Of course, we all know the priorities — air defence and long-range missiles. And here, of course, we rely on our German partners. Because this is a deterrence factor — a factor of deterring Russia. We need to make sure that every morning, when Putin wakes up somewhere in Russia, he realises that he is not safe. That’s why we need long-range missiles for these purposes,” Yelisyeyev said.
- Continuation of sanctions — “their potential is far from being exhausted”.
- Increased financial assistance.We need to continue working on the issue of frozen assets and the profits from them.
- The prospect of boots on the ground — the deployment of European armed forces in Ukraine.
- Investments in our defence industry.
How to become stronger from within
According to Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev, there are five basic steps that will help us strengthen the country during the war.
Internal unity. It is imperative to preserve it in order to act as a united front. “After the war, we will figure out who is who, as they say,” the diplomat said.
The fight against corruption is no longer just an internal problem — it is a factor that strongly influences the perception of Ukraine in the world, he added.
Addressing a range of issues related to mobilisation.
Domestic reforms that lead Ukraine to European Union membership and ensure democratic sustainability. “We have never been so close to this,” the speaker said.
Improvements for small and medium-sized businesses, creating conditions for investment.
How to build relations with Trump in the context of peace talks
“No matter what anyone says, Trump has opened a window of opportunity to finally end the long, insidious war that was not provoked by Ukraine,” reminded Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev. However, he notes that this was the American president’s election slogan, and he does not care what the terms of this war will be. But it would be extremely bad not to use this opportunity. Here, Ukrainian diplomacy will have to play a key role in order to preserve the term just peace in the negotiating vocabulary.
“Trump, unlike Biden, is not a man of values, but of deals and interests. This is the element. And we should not try to stop this element. We will not succeed anyway, just like we cannot hide. I believe that the element should be directed in the right direction,” says the former ambassador. And, in his opinion, Ukrainian diplomacy has not yet said its last word.
At the same time, Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev recalled how, during a discussion panel at New Country, when Donald Trump came to power, he advised President Zelenskyy to learn golf to play with his American counterpart.
“Many people laughed at the time, but this is a symbol. Such non-standard and non-traditional methods of diplomacy can help build trust. And Trump, a business-oriented person, builds relationships on the basis of trust,” the diplomat said. And it must be admitted, he adds, that after the meeting on 28 February in the Oval Office, there is a certain crisis of trust between the President of Ukraine and the President of the United States.
And to avoid any insinuations by the United States that we are surrendering our territories, the former ambassador is convinced that we should immediately work on the adoption by the American side of a document similar to the Crimean Declaration, which would include all Ukrainian territories, including those included in the Russian constitution.
Red lines
As a diplomat, Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev identifies three key red lines for which there can be no compromise during negotiations. And it is important to convey this to the US. These are:
● Ukraine’s sovereignty and national identity. “I especially emphasise the thesis of national identity. This includes both the language and the church. This is the key,” says Yelisyeyev.
● Territorial integrity.
● The Armed Forces of Ukraine. “We cannot allow our ability to defend ourselves against the enemy to be reduced, both now and in the future.”
“These are the three key things on which we must base our negotiating directives. And I really hope that these things are clearly spelled out in the directives of our negotiation team,” the diplomat stressed.
Kostyantyn Yelisyeyev concluded by saying that “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” should remain a fundamental principle. And it is very good that European partners are adopting this principle in their own way — “nothing about Europe without Europe”.
“One more thing. We need to be proactive and persistent. And it is important not to forget about the communication strategy. I believe that it is an abnormal situation when we, Ukrainians, Ukrainian society, learn key information about the fate of the country from the Western media. This means that there is no dialogue between the government and Ukrainian society, with the Verkhovna Rada… Unfortunately, we read news in the Western media that is commented on by the Ukrainian authorities after the fact. I think this situation needs to be changed,” the diplomat concluded.
Video of the discussion: