Russia is an existential threat to Europe with its nuclear rhetoric and with President Zelensky's expressed doubts about prepared strikes on Ukraine's nuclear sites, as well as with Moscow's aggressive actions in the Middle East and Africa.
This is what the former Minister of Defense Assoc. Velizar Shalamanov told "Focus“.
In this context "The Plan for Victory” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, presented during his visit to Washington, is a platform for seeking solutions to meet these threats. "The specific elements of the plan remain non-public by accident. The ultimate plan will be the plan of the free world. Not everything that President Zelensky wants can be fulfilled, but other elements can be added that will lead to a just and lasting peace that can only be achieved with the participation of Ukraine. Any attempt to find a solution without the participation of Ukraine cannot yield results,” said Prof. Shalamanov.
The White House rejected Kiev's request for permission to launch US-made missiles at targets on the territory of the Russian Federation. "The solution to the problem of Russian aggression does not go through only one universal solution such as strikes on the territory of Russia. It's not just about deep strikes, it's about weakening the potential for attacks and especially the potential for terrorist attacks that Russia is carrying out on Ukrainian territory. Over the past 24 hours, we have seen an attack on economic facilities over Izmail, including a violation of Romanian airspace”, Shalamanov pointed out.
According to him, it is time for the European Union to come up with a plan for an anti-terrorist operation in Ukraine. "We cannot continue to tolerate daily terrorist attacks from Russian territory on civilian objects of Ukraine – a country that is a future member of the European Union”, the former Minister of Defense was categorical.
The Russian Federation will also be invited to the upcoming summit for peace in Ukraine. "Just as peace cannot be achieved without the participation of Ukraine, so it cannot be achieved without the participation of Russia. However, Russia must understand that it cannot set conditions and constantly draw red lines”, emphasized Velizar Shalamanov.
In his words, if Russia is allowed to destroy Ukraine, the risk of a direct war between Russia and NATO practically increases. "Russia needs to understand that Article 5 is working, and Ukraine is trying to show that some form of Article 5 must be triggered for Ukraine as well, otherwise there can be no just peace,” added the former defense minister.