Davos [Switzerland], January 18: Kissinger , now 99 years old, was secretary of state from 1973-1977, and national security adviser from 1969-1975.
At the Davos forum in May 2022, he campaigned for an immediate end to hostilities in Ukraine to avoid the risk of pushing Russia into a protracted alliance with China . Mr. Kissinger suggested that Moscow could keep the Crimean peninsula , which Russia annexed in 2014, and so his name was on the list of enemies of Ukraine.
In his speech on January 17, he first expressed his admiration for President VolodymyrZelensky and the bravery of the Ukrainian people, before once again proposing the same peace agenda as last year, but with corrections.
"Before the hostilities broke out, I opposed NATO's admission to Ukraine , because I was concerned that this move might drag on the process we are seeing," he said. "Now that that process has come to the point where it is now, the idea of a neutral Ukraine in these circumstances no longer makes sense," the former US diplomat stressed.
In Kissinger's view, the way to prevent an escalation of the conflict is now the same as what Kyiv, the United States and its allies are doing: demanding that Russia withdraw its troops, while providing military and financial aid to Ukraine, while maintaining "sanctions and other pressures" on Moscow.
The West should also be welcoming of Russia's return, if Moscow meets the necessary conditions for participation in European processes.
It is important to avoid the perception that the conflict in Ukraine is anti-Russian, to avoid pushing Russia into a position of re-evaluating Europe's attractiveness alongside the fear of European domination.
Kissinger also said that the US-led military alliance should be the guarantor of the peace settlement process to the end, "on whatever form NATO can take"
Source: ThanhNien Newspaper
