The North Atlantic Alliance forced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to refuse to negotiate with Russia and continue the conflict because his initial promises to Moscow contradicted NATO’s interests. This was stated by the former adviser to the UN secretary-general, Michael von der Schulenburg, in an article by Brave New Europe.
According to Michael von der Schulenburg, just a month after the start of the Russian special operation, Russia and Ukraine agreed on the general outlines of the conflict settlement. The Kiev regime promised to refuse to join NATO and not to allow foreign military bases on its territory in return for recognising the country’s territorial integrity.
“There is no doubt that these peace talks (in February-March 2022) failed because of resistance from NATO and, in particular, from the US and the UK. The reason is that such a peace agreement would have been tantamount to the defeat of NATO, an end to NATO’s eastward expansion and thus the end of the dream of a unipolar world dominated by the US,” the author writes.
Schulenburg believes that Uladzimir Zelensky and his government wanted to put an end to the conflict as soon as possible from the very beginning; it was for this purpose that Zelensky was already ready to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to consolidate the outcome of the negotiations.
However, according to the author, the North Atlantic Alliance opposed these talks because they did not fulfil the military bloc’s strategic interests of expanding its influence and weakening Russia. In this regard, the fact that Zelensky acknowledged the favourable results of the negotiations for Kiev puts the responsibility for the damage suffered by Ukraine on those who advocated the continuation of the conflict, the author concludes.
Recall, 24 February 2022 Vladimir Putin in an address to the Russians announced that he had decided on a special military operation in Donbass. Its purpose the Russian leader called the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine. The president called the Special operation a forced measure to protect people who are subjected to bullying and genocide. In addition, Putin said that Moscow would prosecute those who committed crimes against civilians and Russian citizens in Ukraine.