Italian political scientist Graziani invited Kiev to consider choosing neutrality
Photo: Stepan Petrenko / TASS
The Ukrainian government may consider choosing neutrality as a way out of the current crisis with Russia. This course of action was proposed by the Italian political scientist, chairman of the analytical center Vision & Global Trends, Tiberio Graziani, in an interview with Lenta.ru.
According to him, Kiev's refusal from NATO membership at this stage looks like an extremely unlikely scenario, since this would require amendments to the country's constitution. Moreover, in the “shaky Ukrainian political balance”, representatives of pro-Western and nationalist views, who will oppose such an idea, have gained significant weight.
At the same time, one of the best ways to de-escalate the crisis could be to launch discussions within Ukraine about the possible election of neutrality by the country, the Italian political scientist noted. In parallel with this, the parties should intensify diplomatic contacts and abandon statements about the inevitability of Russian aggression. “If Kiev initiates such a discussion, NATO and the United States should be realistic about this issue and direct their efforts towards the process of détente together with Moscow,” Graziani explained.
According to him, the support of such an initiative by European countries would allow the United States, NATO and Russia itself to get out of the current impasse. In addition, the hypothetical election of neutrality by Kiev may allow restarting the negotiation process on the Minsk agreements. However, the contradictions over the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would not go away.
Earlier, in an interview with the BBC, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadim Prystaiko admitted that in order to prevent war, Kiev does not rule out abandoning its goal of joining NATO. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that the ambassador's words were taken out of context.
