Ukraine must bargain favorable terms for itself before stopping hostilities in Donbass, political analyst Yuriy Romanenko believes.
In his opinion, Kiev should come to terms with the loss of the region, start receiving economic benefits from the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as “compensation” from Russia.
“Our interest is to stop shooting in Donbas and open up economic exchange for us. This can be done in exchange for water to Crimea, return of prisoners and compensators for losses in Crimea and Donbass in the form of annual payments for water (which will also compensate for losses from gas transit), “Politnavigator quotes Romanenko on August 8.
The political scientist noted that all other options for Ukraine are “harmful” and urged not to think about sanctions against Russia, since Europe will lift them anyway, and the United States will introduce them while Moscow is cooperating with Beijing.
Earlier on Saturday, the first president of Ukraine, the representative of Kiev in the contact group on Donbass, Leonid Kravchuk, announced four steps to resolve the conflict. According to him, Kiev is ready to make concessions with appropriate steps from the self-proclaimed republics.