Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said that Russia needs Donbas to split Ukraine under the guise of federalization.
“The whole idea is to use Donbas to try to legitimize reality around Donbas, to push it into Ukraine… to kick off the process of Russian narrative of federalization,” Klimkin at the 15th YES Conference organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation in Kyiv on Sept. 15.
He said that it is not so important for Russia if the political situation in Ukraine is more pro-Russian or less. “The whole idea is to weaken up and fragment Ukraine,” the minister said.
He said that Russia’s tactics or strategy is basically constantly raise the stakes, and the western strategy in many cases was basically to lower the stakes.
“Whether this asymmetric approach is good I have my strong doubts,” he said.
The minister also said that any success of Ukraine as a free European country will influence the situation in Moldova and other countries.
