Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that a possible visit by US President Donald Trump to Ukraine could signal that the peace agreements contain a clause "that they can pressure us to agree, through the visit itself, with the very fact of the visit".
He said that this would mean that the decision is up to the Verkhovna Rada.
“It is possible that our parliamentarians will face a more serious challenge in their careers - how to vote. "Even if President Trump comes," he said in an interview with Radio Liberty.
Prystaiko recalled that similar attempts at political pressure had already been used during the Minsk process, but they had not yielded results.
The diplomat also commented on the idea of putting territorial issues potentially included in the peace agreement to a referendum. He believes that a referendum will not solve such problems in Ukraine, but it can be seen as an attempt by the authorities to share responsibility with society. He explained:
“This is the only method that allows leaders to share responsibility. I would like to remind you that referendums are quite easy to use here. Kuchma once used them to put pressure on parliament.“
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky said that it was not easy for Ukraine to improve its relations with the United States.
„I will be honest: it was not easy to achieve such a change in the tone of relations between Ukraine and the United States. From the first Oval Office and all the „sharp edges“ there to the conversation at Mar-a-Lago, which demonstrated the fact: without Ukraine, nothing will work out,“ the president noted.