Washington has said that the US is unlikely to agree to Russia’s proposals concerning NATO. That is to say, guarantees not to expand to the east and not to include Ukraine. NATO leaders say the same thing
The very demand to forbid a country to join the Alliance is interpreted in the West as something unprecedented.
Although there were such examples in recent European history, during the Cold War (to which the current situation is increasingly being compared). One was Finland and the other was Austria.
In both cases, the neutral status was secured as a result of strategic arrangements between the West and the USSR. In fact, the same arrangements Russia is now proposing for Ukraine.
However, the U.S. does not want to make the compromises it made 70 years ago. At least not yet.
Also, the West does not seem ready to seriously influence the Ukrainian authorities on another issue that Russia insists on – the implementation of the political part of the Minsk agreements.
Yet the US, the EU and NATO all say they are ready to engage in a security dialogue with Russia and discuss what worries Moscow. But what exactly is the West prepared to discuss on Ukraine, for example?
Here it is worth recalling some recent news.
First, the Ukrainian authorities suddenly announced that they were ready to implement the demands for a return fire limited by the July 2020 ceasefire agreements.
For the war party, this was a terrible treason and hence Chief of Staff Zaluzhny not long ago stated that the AFU was not complying with this requirement.
And on Wednesday, Zaluzhny and Defence Minister Reznikov suddenly released a statement that they were ready to implement it.
This was followed by a joint statement from the German and French foreign ministries supporting this decision. From which we can conclude that it was taken under pressure from the West.
Next. The CEC of Ukraine has issued a request to the Donetsk and Luhansk civil-military organisations to hold local elections in Donbas in the areas where they were cancelled in 2020.
And finally the most interesting part. Sources in diplomatic circles told Strana that at a summit in Brussels last week, European leaders handed Zelensky proposals to reduce tensions with Russia and within Ukraine. Among other things there was the lifting of SNBO sanctions on opposition media (including Strana), as well as the release from house arrest of Viktor Medvedchuk.
In other words, the West obviously does not want to make any strategic concessions to Russia on its list of demands, but Europe and the US can make some other, less global steps to reduce tensions in relations with Russia. And now such steps are being “felt” in communication with the Ukrainian authorities and with Russia.
The resumption of a ceasefire in Donbass and the lifting of sanctions by the CNSD could theoretically be on their list.
All the more so since the lifting of sanctions against Ukrainian citizens and media is quite in line with democratic notions, as it actually restores political competition between different ideological camps in Ukraine.
Another issue is that this may not be enough to reduce tensions (and it is far from certain that Zelensky, for example, will agree to lift the sanctions, as they de facto hold all his power). But the list of possible compromises is long. There are plenty to choose from. The main thing is to be willing to reach some real agreements.
Igor Guzhva, editor-in-chief of Strana news agency, Ukraine