By Vestnik Kavkaza
Today the 51st Security Conference opens in Munich. It is planned that Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, and Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO Secretary General, will hold a meeting during the conference. The main topic of their discussion will be Ukraine.
Igor Morozov, a member of the Federation Council Committee for International Affairs, thinks that “a constructive dialogue is possible, as the situation in Ukraine is coming to a dead end. The diplomatic instruments which were used by the Russian Federation are not working. Today the Minsk peace agreement is not working. Aggressive statements by the White House mean that a new platform for discussion of a settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is needed.”
Morozov believes that the Munich Conference will become such a platform; at least the preconditions for further negotiations within the framework of the Normandy four or other formats can be formed there. “There are no doubts that they will discuss a resolution of the conflict, as there are contradictions between the Europeans and the White House. Leaders of the EU, including Merkel, stand against American weapon imports to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as, obviously, it won’t contribute to a peaceful settlement of the conflict,” Morozov says.
According to him, the Ukrainian army uses all kinds of weapons, including the missile complex Point-U: “It is a common thing to attack towns and cities. Attack aviation is used. “Grad” rockets are thought to be normal weapons for attacking residential areas. The situation has come to a dead end. New instruments of a settlement of the conflict at the European level are needed.”
Dmitry Danilov, the vice-president of the Association of European Studies, the head of the European Security Department of the Institute of Europe, adds: “When our Western colleagues call for Moscow to influence Donetsk and Lugansk, Moscow responds that there are two sides in the conflict and they should influence both sides of the conflict, primarily Kiev. It seems now is a time when European politicians are able to move in this direction. Maybe it won’t change the positions of the European states significantly. However, it is possible that they will correct their positions. It is important that the European policy is more balanced and demanding toward Kiev.”
