If the ceasefire takes effect, Ukraine will enter another very risky period, says Oleksiy Melnyk

Following the negotiations between the Ukrainian and US delegations in Saudi Arabia, the pendulum of Washington's sympathies swung towards Kyiv, Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of foreign policy and international security programmes at Razumkov Centre said to LIGA.net, commenting on the results of the Ukraine-US talks.

He noted that, firstly, the negotiations produced an "unexpectedly positive result" and exceeded expectations.

"Unlike the previous meeting in the Oval Office, where negative expectations were also exceeded by the reality. The second point is this intermediate stage. Now, the pendulum of US sympathies has swung towards Ukraine at the level of both statements and practical deeds," Melnyk said.

He added that the merit of the agreement lies in the fact that, as the US partners put it, the ball is in Russia's court now. The expert expressed doubts that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin "will be able to find a way to somehow get round, if not flatly reject, this demand easily."

Melnyk believes that if a decision on a truce is reached and a ceasefire takes effect, Ukraine will enter another very risky stage.

"With the beginning of the truce, talks or preparations for talks on a peace agreement will begin, and Ukraine will face all those demands concerning territories, foreign policy orientation, etc. rising up to the hilt, and, perhaps, the issue of elections will be raised again," he specified.

The expert emphasized that if Russia flatly disagrees, then US President Donald Trump and his team made it clear what would happen: "We shall fight."                                                                                                              

Melnyk believes that the US president has given a signal that the US is siding with Ukraine. At the same time, he clarified that "the Americans will not fight themselves," but can step up assistance.

"First of all, long-range weapons. These are the weapons that will show the determination of the Americans and help Ukraine destroy targets deep inside the Russian territory. And, as it has been said more than once, hellish sanctions. That is, everything to convince Putin that he'd better listen to what Washington says," the expert summed up.

Source: 

https://razumkov.org.ua/komentari/maiatnyk-amerykanskykh-sympatii-pishov-v-storonu-ukrainy