Primakov called for giving the entire Donbass to Ukraine and being friends with the United States against “inflaming conflicts”
Moscow - Kyiv, January 14 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - In the next two years, the Russian authorities are obliged to recognize the entire south-east of Ukraine, except for Crimea and Sevastopol, as Ukrainian, and the entry of regular Russian troops into the territory of south-east Ukraine is categorically unacceptable, he said yesterday at a meeting of the Mercury Club he created, former prime minister and ex-KGB officer Yevgeny Primakov. According to him, it is also necessary to cooperate with the United States and NATO, because “without this we will lose Russia as a great power.”
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Primakov is confident that Russia must recognize southeastern Ukraine as part of Ukraine and conduct negotiations with the US and Europe from this perspective, according to the morning newspaper Kommersant . However, he said Crimea and Sevastopol "cannot be bargaining chips" in international negotiations. He called the deployment of regular Russian troops to southeastern Ukraine categorically unacceptable.
Moreover, Primakov argues that there should be no talk of any isolation of Russia, and the Russian Federation, despite the current sanctions, is obliged to develop relations with all countries of both the West and the East. According to him, “keep the doors open for the United States and NATO in countering terrorism, drug trafficking, and inflaming conflicts.” The former foreign minister called such cooperation fundamentally important. “Without this, we will lose our country as a great power,” he emphasized.
What Primakov understands by “cooperation with the United States” against “inflaming conflicts,” and whether this means Russia’s cessation of support for the LPR and DPR, the publication does not specify.
Let us recall that, despite his advanced age, Yevgeny Primakov is still considered one of the influential gray cardinals of Russian politics in general - and foreign policy in particular.
After his plane's famous turn over the Atlantic as the United States began bombing Yugoslavia in 1999, Primakov acquired an image as a representative of the conventionally patriotic wing of the Russian elite. However, the Mercury Club, which he created and heads, consists of high-ranking Soviet ex-special services; the families of a significant part of them have become fabulously rich in the process of privatization since the 90s and business contacts with the West.
English version :: Read in English: Primakov called for the surrender of the entire Donbas to Ukraine and for friendship with the United States against the "fueling of conflicts."