Russia may be invited to negotiations only after its defeat – French expert
The idea of inviting Russia to the negotiating table is deceptive; this can only happen if "Putin's Russia" is completely defeated, said Nicolas Tenzer, president of the Center for Studies and Research on Political Decision (France).
During a special event at the Kyiv Security Forum, founded by Arseniy Yatsenyuk's Open Ukraine Foundation, he pointed out that the words "peace negotiations" are something Western countries should now refrain from using.
"I saw the final Communique of the Summit on Peace and I believe the idea to invite Russia for negotiations right now is a misleading one. Every time we speak about peace now, we give floor to a lot of Russian narrative that we still witness in some European capitals. The idea that we need to make concessions to Russia, that we need to strike a deal – this is very misleading," Tenzer stressed.
He emphasized that the West should concentrate on providing Ukraine with all its needs to "defeat Russia, fully and completely."
"Today, it is perhaps too early to hold peace summits. Instead, we should hold a war summit, because, first, we need to win this war. This should be our common goal, and we need to give Ukraine all it needs to reach this goal, to win this war," Tenzer argued.
He also mentioned his recent visit to Ukraine and his communication with Ukrainians. He believes that all this process must speed up.
"Naturally, Ukraine alone could not have thrown Russian army from its territory. We are not talking solely about withstanding Russian army, we are talking about making Ukraine win, so that this effort is brought to fruition," he added.