Ex-head of the now-banned Ukrainian party “Opposition Platform – For Life”, Viktor Medvedchuk, first time wrote an article for the Russian media after arriving in Russia from Ukraine as a result of an exchange of detained persons.
As reminded, on April 12, 2022, President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced the detention and arrest of Medvedchuk on charges of treason and violation of the laws of warfare. At the end of September, Medvedchuk left Ukraine for Russia.
In the article published on January 16 by Izvestia, Medvedchuk discusses the military confrontation in Ukraine, examines its prerequisites and gives a forecast of the further development of the situation.
Conflict development
According to Medvedchuk, in order to defuse the situation in Ukraine, it is necessary to recognize the interests of Russia. He says that the Cold War ended with a political decision to build a new world where there are no wars, but it is obvious now that such a world has not been built.
Now there are only two ways out, according to Medvedchuk: to slide into a world war and a nuclear conflict, or to start the process of détente again, for which it is necessary to take into account the interests of all parties. He goes further, saying that to do this, it is necessary to recognize politically that Russia has interests, which must be taken into account.
“The main thing is to play fair, not to deceive anyone, not to let on fog and not try to make money on someone else’s blood,” the politician believes.
In his opinion, the conflict will either grow, spreading to Europe and other countries, or it will be localized. However, for the second way, “it is necessary that the peace party be heard,” and this is hindered by Western countries actively supporting military actions in Ukraine.
Ukraine needs new political movement
Medvedchuk points out that many Ukrainians are for peace and do not support Zelensky in his quest for military triumphs. And in order for people to be heard, a political movement is needed without the participation of Western countries.
“If the party of peace and civil dialogue does not fit into some kind of ‘democracy’, is that democracy? Perhaps, in order to save the country, Ukrainians need to start building their democracy and opening their civil dialogue without Western curators, the result of whose management is harmful and disastrous. If the West does not want to listen to the point of view of another Ukraine, then this is its business, but for Ukraine such a point of view is important and necessary, otherwise this nightmare will never end,” he wrote.
Medvedchuk urged to create a political movement from those “who have not given up, who have not renounced their beliefs on pain of death and prison, who do not want their country to become a place of geopolitical showdowns.”
Medvedchuk noted that “there have been two countries inside Ukraine itself since 1991: anti-Russia and Ukraine as another Russia.”
“One does not think of itself without Russia, the other does not think of itself with Russia. At the same time, such a division is very artificial. Ukraine has spent most of its history with Russia, connected with it culturally and mentally. Ukraine’s integration with Russia is clearly dictated by the economy. After all, if there is such a huge market and resources nearby, then only a very narrow-minded government can not use it, and even block it. Anti-Russian sentiments brought nothing but grief and poverty to Ukraine,” the politician stressed.
South-East saved Ukrainian economy
Medvedev noted that the independence of Ukraine could well have ended in economic collapse, if not for the southeast, where fierce fighting is now taking place. The South-East has integrated Ukraine into the international distribution of labor with its huge production capacities and developed industry, he says.
“It is not customary to talk about this, but in the 1990s it was the Russian-speaking southeast that saved the economic, and with it – the political independence of Ukraine,” the author of the material reminded.
However, he also put attention to the fact that the business of the South-East is largely tied to Russia and its interests, so the conflict has ceased to be an exclusively internal matter. Russia was faced with the need not only to protect its economic interests, but also international honor and dignity, which it was systematically denied.
Conclusion
Medvedchuk believes that the way out of the military confrontation between East and West, which could have ended in a nuclear catastrophe, was jointly found by Moscow and Washington, and it did not at all assume the absorption of the East by the West.
“It was about equal cooperation and joint construction of a new political and economic reality. So we clearly see two approaches to the end of the Cold War: the triumph of the winners on the one hand, and the construction of a new world and civilization on the other. Based on these approaches, events will develop in the future,” the politician concluded.
Ru-Main, 18.01.2023
