The chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, believes that only Ukraine’s membership in NATO can provide the state with a long-term perspective of peace.
Heusgen said this during an interview with the Rheinische Post.
According to Heusgen, the issue of Ukraine’s accession to NATO is not on the agenda of the alliance’s summit in Washington next week. However, according to Heusgen, “only NATO membership offers Ukraine a long-term prospect of peace.”
“Agreements with Russia are not worth the paper Putin puts his signature on. Ukraine had to go through this bitter experience. The only insurance is NATO membership,” Heusgen noted.
The international community, including NATO, must organize itself in such a way that Vladimir Putin finally realizes that his aggression is not paying off, Heusgen said.
The chairman also did not rule out that Putin might attack the Baltic states, which are members of NATO, because the Russian leader wants to restore the Soviet Union.
”That’s what he announced! He wants to restore the Soviet Union; that includes the Baltic states. If we let him, he will continue,” the chairman of the security conference stated.
According to Heusgen, the solution is to make Ukraine strong enough that Putin will realize he cannot win.
”There will only be a solution if Putin realizes that he can no longer make progress with his strategy. That will only happen if Ukraine is in a position of strength. Putin believes that he has more staying power than Ukraine and the alliance that supports it,” Heusgen said.
Heusgen also noted that Putin is counting on populist right-wing parties in Europe, stating that ”in the AfD and the BSW, Putin has allies who are agitating on his behalf. There are similar forces in other countries, for example in France. They must not be allowed to succeed.”
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