Ambassador Melnyk does not believe that ceasefires and peace treaties with Russia will last. An agreement is only a "breather" for the regime to "prepare an even more perfidious war". According to the diplomat, Ukraine can only feel safe with a fresh start.
According to the outgoing ambassador of Ukraine to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, ceasefires and peace treaties are worthless without a fundamental change within Russia. The majority of Russian society supports President Vladimir Putin's imperialist course and accepts that the Ukrainians will be slaughtered, Melnyk said at the Bodensee Business Forum of the "Schwäbische Zeitung" in Friedrichshafen.
Therefore, every ceasefire, every peace treaty, every agreement is "just a breather for the regime in Russia - no matter who is at the top - to prepare for a new, even more perfidious war". You have to strive for a fresh start in Russia - only if there is a change there will Ukraine feel more secure.
In addition, Melnyk said he does not see his country as a supplicant to the West. "We want to be seen as equals and not like a poor country on Germany's doorstep hoping to be accepted," said Melnyk in Friedrichshafen. "It's not about us being there as petitioners."
Geographically speaking, Ukraine is the largest country in Europe that is only on the continent. They want to build a Ukraine without oligarchs and make a contribution so that Europe can live in prosperity. The war-torn country officially runs for membership in the European Union.
Melnyk is Ukraine's ambassador to Germany for only a few weeks. Oleksiy Makeyev, the government's current sanctions officer in Kyiv, is to take over the post after him.
