Peace in Ukraine cannot be agreed only between Russia and the US - Riekstins

RIGA - Contrary to what several experts have said, peace in Ukraine cannot be agreed only between Russia and the United States, with Ukraine being a recipient of the end product, Latvian Ambassador to NATO Maris Riekstins says in an interview to the Diena daily.

The ambassador has come to this conclusion while observing US President-elect Donald Trump as a politician and his election campaign. It is clear that any theoretical outcome of peace or ceasefire talks, or any talks for that matter, will be analyzed and discussed from the point of view of who succeeds and who does not, Riekstins believes.

At the same time, the ambassador does not think that it is possible for the parties to negotiate in such a way that Ukraine is "simply a recipient of the end product of such negotiations without its own voting rights".

Riekstins does not see any indications from Moscow that it would be prepared for any peace talks. Although Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claims from time to time that he is ready for the peace talks, these statements always come with conditions that would effectively mean Ukraine's capitulation.

"I don't think Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or the political leadership of democratic Ukraine would be ready for such talks, and I don't think the new US president's administration would be ready for such talks, because such a result means that the West loses," Diena quotes Riekstins as saying.

The Latvian diplomat was also reserved in his predictions as to how soon after becoming US President Trump might start any talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

The ambassador welcomed the impact of the sanctions imposed against Russia, pointing out that they are working as the Russian economy is collapsing and stagnating. This is likely to make it impossible for Russia to sustain financially high-intensity warfare in the long term. "They can tell us that everything is fine, but it's impossible," Riekstins says.

Asked whether he thought Russia actually needed a ceasefire, the diplomat replied that it would allow Russia to "take a breath and rearm".