Ukraine could have avoided a full-scale war with the Russian Federation, according to the second president of Ukraine (1994-2005) Leonid Kuchma, but only the actions of the heads of Western countries could have guaranteed this, if they had not been engaged in a policy of appeasement of the Russian government.

"How could war have been avoided? Ukraine could have done it in two diametrically opposed ways: either strengthen its defenses to a level that would deter Russia from attacking, or surrender without a fight. Unfortunately, for many years our leaders did not do the first. Fortunately, in 2022 they did not do the second," Kuchma said in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.

"But let's be honest: the actions of the Western heads of state, rather than Ukraine, could have guaranteedly avoided war. If, at the first obvious signs of preparation of Russian aggression, they had not tried to appease the Kremlin, but had clearly outlined the prospects for punishment, not to mention the introduction of preventive sanctions, this could have stopped Putin," he added.

The second president is convinced that war was not the only scenario for Vladimir Putin. "He would have preferred easier ways to put us under his power. Probably, the first bet was on the fifth column, on provoking an internal split in Ukraine. But it did not work out. I think the blow to Medvedchuk's structures in February 2021 was a decisive step by our leadership, after which Putin realized that he would not be able to take us with his bare hands," he said.

Kuchma also said that in the work of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) on resolving the situation in eastern Ukraine, whose Ukrainian delegation he led, all decisions were made by the leaders of the Normandy Four countries (Ukraine, Germany, France, Russia).

"Its work was far from lofty matters - all decisions were made by the leaders of the Normandy Four countries. The TCG was an instrument that allowed the war to be suspended, but it could in no way prevent its resumption. I am proud that the results of the group's work included a ceasefire and an exchange of prisoners, but we had to deal much more with humanitarian issues, improving the lives of the civilian population in the conflict zone. So it was difficult to figure out the Kremlin's intentions here," he noted.