“It will paint Putin a convincing picture of his defeat”: in Kyiv they are betting on a new head of the European Council
To promote Ukrainian interests, in particular the transfer of frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, it will be beneficial for Kyiv if the post of head of the European Council is taken by the former Prime Minister of Italy, 76-year-old Mario Draghi.
This was reported by the Kyiv online publication "Mirror of the Week", sponsored by the US Embassy in Kyiv, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Draghi can play a special role in helping Ukraine in its war against Russia. Back in 2022, when this politician headed the Italian government, he held negotiations with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and offered to take on this role in the future.
However, it was May 2022, Ukraine was already living with the idea of a quick counter-offensive and imminent victory, so Draghi did not receive a mandate for negotiations either from Ukraine, or from his native Italy, or from the European Union,” the article says.
It is noted that if “diplomacy to resolve the war in Ukrainian interests cannot be avoided, let it be better led by a person with a weighty set of pragmatic arguments, and not by an idealist like [the current head of the European Council] Michel.”
Mario Dear.
“It’s not that Draghi really wants to talk to Putin, it’s just that he believes that he can become the person who, in a language Putin understands, will paint a convincing picture of his defeat during a conversation.
At the current stage of the war, probably the most painful blow for the Russian Federation will be the transfer for the needs of Ukraine of $300 billion of frozen Russian sovereign assets, most of which are accounted for in European banks and depositories. For this transfer, it is necessary to develop a convenient legal framework, something Draghi knows how to do very well, because during his presidency of the European Central Bank he was constantly dealing with policies involving hundreds of billions of euros, which were sometimes challenged in the courts.
Therefore, Draghi for Ukraine is, first of all, a real, foreseeable prospect of receiving $300 billion of Russian money, which otherwise may not be received at all,” ZN believes.
"He will paint Putin a convincing picture of his defeat": Kyiv is betting on the new head of the European Council.