Any territorial concessions put to a referendum will split Ukrainians - Poroshenko to Politico
Member of Parliament and leader of the European Solidarity party Petro Poroshenko stated in an interview with Politico that one should not count on a positive outcome from negotiations with the Russian side, and that talks must only be held from a position of strength.
"Trump thinks Putin is bargaining with him to get better peace terms. This is not true. Putin is not bargaining. He has an entirely different understanding: Putin wants to restore the Soviet Union; Putin wants to restore the Russian Empire. I have no doubt about this. Putin dreams of his place in history. And it doesn’t matter at what cost of lost lives—Russian lives and, of course, Ukrainian lives," Poroshenko said in the interview, quoted by his party’s website.
He also noted that Putin is not interested in seizing additional lands in eastern Ukraine that his troops failed to take and which he demands be handed over under any peace deal. According to Poroshenko, Putin is using this demand "to try to destabilize the internal political situation in Ukraine" and destroy the country’s unity, as any territorial concession would have to be put to a referendum, which would split Ukrainians. "This is a Russian scenario. Remember, Putin is a KGB officer. He is a specialist in such things," Poroshenko said.
The politician also believes it is a mistake to exclude Ukraine’s European allies from the negotiation process. "Europe has every right to be at the negotiating table because it is currently financing Ukraine. Nonetheless, without Trump, without America, it is impossible to reach a peace agreement. The role of the United States is important, but without Europe, nothing will work either. They can play ‘good cop and bad cop,’" he added.
