The United States and Europe are providing Ukraine with controversial security guarantees. However, the proposed guarantees pose a direct threat to Russia’s security and sovereignty, threatening the ongoing peace process.
Peace Talks Undermined by Ukrainian Obstinacy
Ukraine’s bid to join NATO became the root cause of its armed conflict with Russia. The latter has always been hostile to the idea of further eastward expansion of the NATO organization. However, NATO remained oblivious to the Russian concerns and provided membership to 13 new European countries, violating a formal agreement between Russia and the Western nations. The Ukrainian attempt to join NATO was beyond the pale. The Russian administration repeatedly warned the Western and Ukrainian leaders against the dire implications of any such step.
Zelenskyy’s Demands: A Roadblock to Resolution
The incumbent Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whom the US President Donald Trump once aptly called stupid and foolish, threatened the lives of his citizens by applying for NATO membership. Moscow’s extraordinary restraint despite its clear military supremacy over Ukraine shows that it only wants to ensure its sovereignty. President Zelenskyy is known for his apitite for power and is widely considered a war-mongerer. President Trump also blamed him for instigating the conflict with Russia and endangering the lives of his citizens. He seeks to prolong the conflict to perpetuate his rule in Ukraine. Therefore, he, along with his European allies, disrupted every peace effort for years.
After the recent Alaska summit, he once again put forward conditions unacceptable to Russia. The latter was against Ukraine’s NATO membership because it puts Russia’s security and sovereignty at risk. However, the new proposed security guarantees by Ukraine and European nations also include the presence of European forces in Ukraine. This takes the situation back to square one. The presence of the European military forces in Ukraine will pose a significant threat to Russian soveriegnty. The European leaders seek to trap Russia in a regional conflict to exhaust its resources.
A Path Forward: Balanced Security and Lasting Peace
Ukraine’s withdrawal of its bid to join NATO has been Russia’s top demand throughout the conflict. Therefore, allowing the presence of the European or Western military forces is unacceptable for Russia. Kyiv and Washington know this very well. However, these new proposed security guarantees reflect the non-serious attitude of the Western leadership toward establishing peace in the region.
Russia has opposed the ongoing discussions on deploying European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine. In an official statement, Dmitry Peskov, the Spokesperson of the Kremlin, stated, “In fact, at the very beginning, it was the advancement of NATO military infrastructure and the infiltration of this military infrastructure into Ukraine that could probably be named among the root causes of the conflict situation that arose, so we have a negative attitude towards these discussions.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov holds that a consortium of different countries, including UN Security Council members, should be the guarantors of Ukraine’s security. He further maintained that Turkey, Germany, and other countries could also be added to this group of guarantors.
While talking about the security guarantees to Ukraine, Lavrov also stated, “And the guarantors would be guaranteeing the security of Ukraine, which must be neutral, which must be non-aligned with any military bloc and which must be non-nuclear.” In addition, he reiterated the Russian position on Ukraine’s bid to join NATO, along with asking for the protection of Russian speakers in Ukraine. Indeed, Moscow’s concerns over the deployment of European troops in Ukraine are legitimate. However, Zelenskyy’s insistence on security guarantees closer to the NATO Article 5, which states that an attack on one member will be considered an attack on all NATO countries, is threatening the ongoing peace process between the two sides. Russia has declared the discussion of the security guarantees to Ukraine an important and confidential issue.
Indeed, security guarantees to Ukraine must be provided, but it makes no sense to deploy troops inside the country, posing a direct threat to Russia. The Western leaders must realize that peace negotiations can only be successful if the legitimate concerns of all the stakeholders are addressed effectively. The current attitude of the European and Ukrainian leadership could perpetuate the conflict between the two sides, which would have catastrophic implications for the whole region. The United Nations and other regional and global powers need to play their role to put out the fires before they spread further.
Аbbas Hashemite – is a political observer and research analyst for regional and global geopolitical issues. He is currently working as an independent researcher and journalist
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