Berlin will not allow Ukraine to open its mouth
It is too early to interpret the statement of Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Elena Zerkal about the undesirability of breaking the Russian-Ukrainian agreement on the Sea of Azov as the official position of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.
This opinion was expressed in a commentary to Rossiyskaya Gazeta by the director of the Kyiv Center for Political Marketing Vasily Stoyakin.
“Zerkal is a good international lawyer and understands the risks. If she says so, then her opinion is agreed upon. But it’s not a fact that it’s at the very top. It may happen that soon she herself will say that this was her personal opinion,” says Stoyakin.
According to him, in Kyiv there is a behind-the-scenes discussion between “hawks” and “doves”, a joint search for a line of behavior in the current situation.
“Everyone agrees that the initiative to break the agreement should come from Russia. Ukraine should appear in the usual image of a victim and ask for stronger sanctions and NATO ships. If Kyiv withdraws from the agreement first, the West may ask unpleasant questions: about the continuation of mutual trade, gas transit, unbroken diplomatic relations and other oddities in the victim’s behavior,” the expert believes.
He also assessed threats made in Kyiv to achieve exclusion of Russia from the Danube Commission.
“It is unlikely that Ukraine can raise such a question before the members of the Danube Commission, which besides it includes Germany and the same Hungary. Rather, it will be the other way around, and Berlin will think before allowing Ukrainian representatives to open their mouths on this matter. Especially if the initiative comes from Poroshenko, who has become toxic for everyone,” Stoyakin emphasized.
Mikhail Pogrebinsky, director of the Kyiv Center for Political Research and Conflict Studies, agrees with him.
“This is all talk in favor of the rich. It’s not our poor country to make decisions of this magnitude,” Pogrebinsky said.
As PolitNavigator reported, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Elena Zerkal said that as a result of the rupture of the agreement on the Sea of Azov Kyiv may get a new territorial dispute with Russia.
Read also: Capture of "Nord" backfired on Ukrainian ports loss of almost half of the cargo turnover.
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