“Ukraine is everywhere, literally. In fact, Ukraine is a key reason why these documents have appeared at all. Ukraine is present at all consultations and talks that are held with Russia. Our partners inform Ukraine about everything they discuss with Russia and coordinate their positions with us. Ukraine is in the center of all these processes,” Kuleba told in a recent interview with RBC-Ukraine.
If earlier, Kuleba went on to say, Ukraine was quite passive then today it is an active player of international policy and often “even imposes her view of a given situation or her position on this or that issue”.
The minister has assured that no one has ever put pressure on Ukraine in diplomatic relations. “There are a lot of rumors going around particularly in the media that Ukraine is pressed here or squeezed there. The possibility of 'insistently asking for' something or putting pressure on Ukraine regarding something that does not meet her interests – such an option is not on the table, it has been removed from the agenda. Our partners know that they shouldn't even try to do that,” the minister noted.
Early in December, in an attempt to justify the build-up of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, President Putin declared that Russia needed judicially-binding guarantees that NATO won’t expand eastward. A couple of weeks later, Russia offered NATO and the United States her “proposals” on ensuring security in Europe. Thus, Moscow demands that NATO not to grant membership to Ukraine and withdraw its weapons and military contingents from East European countries that joined the Alliance since 1997.
It was announced that representatives of the United States and Russia would meet for talks on January 10. The session of the Russia-NATO Commission is slated for January 12. Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will have talks on January 13.
In the opinion of Dmytro Kuleba, it is highly unlikely that the United States and NATO will accept Russia’s demand to stop eastward expansion because such a step will be the greatest humiliation since the moment the Alliance was founded.
“I do not believe that the United States and NATO will comply with Russia’s demand not to expand eastward and withdraw from countries of Central Europe. Besides insisting on NATO’s refusal from eastward expansion, Russia also calls for the Alliance to take its military presence from its member-countries. I do not believe in such things because this demand articulated in any form will mean the greatest humiliation of the United States and NATO in the entire history of the Alliance’s existence,” stressed the head of Ukrainian diplomacy.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has signed the U.S. defense budget for the fiscal year of 2022. According to the White House, this document provides for the allocation of 300 million dollars of military aid for the Ukrainian armed forces.
The newspaper Voice of Ukraine
