Former U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger. Photo: Dazhi Image/Associated Press (file photo).
It has been 3 months since Russia invaded Ukraine, NATO has promised to supply Ukrainian military weapons without limit, and the United States has also passed a 40 billion US dollar (about 1.2 trillion Taiwan dollars) aid bill to Ukraine, Ukraine is expected to recover lost territory, but former US Secretary of State Ji Xin Henry Kissinger pointed out that Ukraine should give up part of its territory in order to reach a peace agreement with Russia to immediately end the Ukrainian-Russian war. In this regard, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko criticized that Kissingi was still alive in the last century.
Goncharanko said in an interview with CNBC: “I think Kissinghi is still living in the 20th century, but we are in the 21st century, we will never give up any inch of land, this will be the worst for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Signal. We should stop Putin and don’t let him go further. The best way to build peace is for Ukraine to join the EU as soon as possible.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also stated: “I respect Tysin Kat, but I appreciate that he does not currently hold any official position in the U.S. government, and he has his own opinions, but we strongly disagree. This is not what we should do.”
After being attacked and beaten by the Ukrainian army, the Russian army has spent a year of military spending (about NT$113 billion), and now it burns 900 million US dollars (about NT$27 billion) every day to fight, but it can barely hold eastern Ukraine. The original position and captured 2 cities. The Russian army suffered serious battle damage, and a quarter of the tactical battalion had no combat effectiveness. Since the war began, more than 10 generals have been killed. British Defence Minister Ben Wallace estimated that more than 30,000 Russian soldiers were killed, and he expects the Russian army to stop the offensive in mid-June.
Although the war is not necessarily in Russia’s favor, Kissinghi, 98, said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that Ukraine should be prepared to give up some of its territory in order to reach a peace deal with Russia. In the long term, Ukraine’s inability to restart talks with Russia and continue its confrontation with Moscow could have disastrous consequences for European stability. Russia has been an integral part of Europe for 400 years, acting as a balancing force in critical times. Western countries should keep in mind the importance of Russia in Europe, and not act impatiently.
“Ideally, the line of demarcation should go back to the pre-war status quo, which means returning to the pre-war Ukrainian-Russian state,” Kissinghi said, suggesting that Russia should be allowed to remain in the 2014 annexation of Crimea. In fact, Kissinghi reminded Ukraine as early as 8 years ago that if it wants to survive and develop, it should not choose between the West and the East, should not become an “outpost” of one party against the other, and should not join NATO. These words are still in my ears, and now there is a proposal for Ukraine to cede territory and seek peace.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a powerful speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum, stating that “Putin is not interested in our ideas, and brute force is unreasonable and only kills. “He called on the international community to impose an oil embargo on Russia, punitive measures against all Russian banks, and to shun the Russian IT industry and all foreign businesses to leave Russia. Zelensky’s reaction was obviously very different from Kissinghi’s statement.