Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger announced a turning point in the Ukrainian conflict.
According to Kissinger, this turning point must be used to resolve the situation through negotiations and prevent an escalation fraught with global catastrophe.
The politician expressed this opinion in his article entitled “How to Avoid a New World War,” which was published by the British publication.
What turning point are we talking about?
In his article, the veteran of world politics writes about the winter lull in the conflict in Ukraine and compares it with the situation that arose in August 1916, when European countries participating in the First World War tried to negotiate with the United States to mediate a peace settlement.
Kissinger notes that then-US President Woodrow Wilson, due to the approaching elections, missed the moment when the bloodshed could be stopped through diplomacy.
The former secretary of state wonders whether the world today is at a similar turning point in the Ukrainian conflict.
In his opinion, the time has come to achieve peace in Ukraine through negotiations.
The politician believes that Ukraine has become the most important state in Central Europe, that negotiations on its neutrality no longer make sense and that the peace process must link Ukraine and the North Atlantic Alliance, in whatever form this may be expressed.
At the same time, Kissinger believes that the result of the Ukrainian conflict should not be the weakening of Russia as one of the leading world powers and the belittling of its historical role, since Russia has made a decisive contribution to the global balance for more than five centuries.
The former Secretary of State warned that internal problems in Russia, given its nuclear potential, are fraught with problems for the whole world.
How to resolve conflict
Kissinger proposes to draw a truce line along the borders as of February 24.
Russia, in his opinion, could withdraw from the territories occupied during the special operation, but not from Crimea and the Donbass republics.
The ex-diplomat proposes to begin negotiations on their fate after peace is concluded.
If it is not possible to return to the borders by February 24 either through military means or negotiations, Kissinger proposes holding referendums on self-determination in the disputed territories under international control.
