PRESS RELEASE : If Europe wants to get rid of pressure from Russia, it is necessary to end the war in Ukraine in a fair way – Mykhailo Podolyak in an interview with elDiario [October 2022]

If Europe, together with Ukraine, does not end the war properly, the problems and crises provoked by Russia will become even larger. This was stated by Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office Mykhailo Podolyak in an interview with the Spanish online newspaper elDiario.

“If Europe wants to get rid of all kinds of blackmail and pressure from Russia – and it’s not only the war in Ukraine, it’s also the migrant crisis, energy, economic, financial and political crises – we have to end this war in a fair way. We must not allow Russia to implement these crises. If today Europe, together with Ukraine, does not end the war properly, it will continue to have the same problems, but on a larger scale, because Russia will think that it has defeated Europe,” said Mykhailo Podolyak.

“I think the position of European leaders, particularly Borrell, is correct. They understand all the consequences of the wrong end of the war. And they understand that there is no way back,” he added.

Mykhailo Podolyak emphasized that, unlike young democracies such as Hungary, established European democracies understand that the war must end properly – Ukraine must win.

The Advisor to the Head of the President’s Office emphasized that, despite the rhetoric, Russia does not actually seek negotiations. In order to start a real negotiation process, it is necessary for the Russian Federation to return to the implementation of the norms of international law and leave Ukrainian territories.

“Russia puts forward an ultimatum: we entered your territory, we kill your people and we want you to give us part of your territory, your sovereignty. It is impossible to reach an agreement when the army of another country is on our territory. Because it would be a temporary solution. Then Russia would work on its mistakes and continue fighting with Ukraine. For our country, this is already the second stage of the war after 2014. If there are recognized borders, no one can come in and take anything away. For this reason, negotiations can begin when we all return to the norms of international law. There are borders, the Russians are leaving our territory and sitting down at the negotiating table. It is impossible otherwise,” Mykhailo Podolyak emphasized.

In his opinion, the end of the war depends on two factors: providing Ukraine with the necessary weapons and the readiness of the leaders of European countries to defeat Russia.

“Mathematically verified number of certain types of weapons, including weapons systems, armored vehicles and MLRS. These are small amounts, but they are exactly what we need. And another thing that Europe still does not understand: the political elite and society of European countries must believe in one simple thing, namely that Russia can lose. It is necessary to psychologically prepare European countries for the fact that Russia will lose,” Mykhailo Podolyak summarized.