On Tuesday 3 December, Volodymyr Ariev, former chairman of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, expressed concern during a meeting with journalists in Kiev, including EUROPE, regarding a possible lifting of sanctions against Russia.
Mr Ariev, Member of the European Solidarity Party, said he viewed the new European Commission and the new President of the European Council with “expectations and hope”.
“I hope for a position of unity and firmness on sanctions”, he explained, recalling that the only instrument to change the situation were “effective sanctions and a firm position in order to maintain them”. Once again, leaders are expected to discuss the extension of economic sanctions against Russia at the December EU summit.
According to Mr Ariev, Moscow should also pay compensation to the Ukraine, just as Germany did after the world wars.
European shift, Zelensky's weakness
Meanwhile, on Monday 9 December, the leaders of the Normandy format are meeting in Paris. Mr Ariev expressed concern about a possible shift in the positions of the French and the Germans. According to him, France and Germany want to rebuild the relationship with Russia.
On 3 December, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “dialogue without naivety with Russia in order to reduce conflict” with Moscow, while preconditioning “progress” on resolving the conflict with the Ukraine. Germany, for its part, has a strong interest in the Nord Stream II pipeline.
“For the Ukraine, this is the least relevant (irrelevant) time to have the meeting. We are in a weak position”, said the Ukrainian MP. He added: “I am concerned that during the meeting, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, may have to make some serious decisions soon enough and I do not think he will have the necessary basis to make decisions prudently and correctly”. According to Mr Ariev, Mr Zelensky is surrounded by people without diplomatic knowledge and has dismissed those who had it.
The MP even felt that leaving the situation as it is could be a better solution than these negotiations, in which the Ukraine would lose out.
Ariev therefore called on the Franco-German partnership not to cave. “Western countries should learn from the past, in particular the EU. Short-term solutions can have consequences in the future”, he recalled, referring to the two world wars. “Pleasing the aggressor (Russia, editor's note) will not change the situation. We must show Putin that he cannot act like he does”, he added.
Asked by EUROPE about the possible role of the Council of Europe, of which both Russia and Ukraine are members, Mr Ariev said that the institution could be of no help because of the decision to allow the Russian delegation to return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
“There is a lack of trust”, explained the man who, with alongside his delegation, left the Assembly following this decision. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)