Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė has criticised Western politicians suggesting concessions for Russia.
Šimonytė was commenting on the EU’s stalled talks on a fresh round of sanctions on Moscow and on a suggestion by Henry Kissinger, a former US secretary of state, that Ukraine should cede part of its territory to make peace with Russia.
Kissinger suggested this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos that Ukraine should let Russia keep Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, in order to end the war and warned that a humiliating defeat for Russia could result in wider destabilisation.
“Negotiations [between Kyiv and Moscow] need to begin in the next two months before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easily overcome. Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante,” Kissinger said.
Lithuania’s PM Šimonytė believes that such a route would mean repeating the mistake of letting Russia off the hook.
“If the West steps on the same rake again, that rake will smack it in the face and that will definitely not be the end of this story,” Šimonytė said in an interview with Delfi.lt on Wednesday.
The prime minister noted that some politicians believe that the situation in Ukraine can be resolved outside the battlefield.
“These things are worrying, but I see this, at least for now, as wishful thinking on the part of individual European politicians,” she said.
The EU is currently discussing a sixth package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The new package includes a ban on Russian oil imports, but the talks are stalling due to opposition from Hungary, which is heavily dependent on Russian energy resources.
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