WASHINGTON, October 11. /TASS/. The United States needs the Kiev Security Compact to solve the Russia problem and address China afterwards, former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told Foreign Policy.
On September 13, the Ukrainian presidential office released a draft agreement on its security guarantees. The document suggests a binding agreement be signed between Ukraine and the US, the EU and a number of other countries. Despite previously voiced proposals, the plan does not constrain Kiev’s aspiration to join NATO, nor does it envisage a neutral status for Ukraine or Russia’s participation as a security guarantor.
"If we get this right, the security guarantees to Ukraine could fix the Russia problem, because it is in the interest of the U.S. to have a strong and stable Eastern European partner as a bulwark against Russian attacks. If you have stability in Europe, the US can devote more resources to the real global long-term challenge: China," the former NATO chief said in an interview published by the magazine on Monday.
According to Rasmussen, the pact is a formal codification of Western support for Ukraine. The plan Rasmussen has been modeling jointly with Ukrainian presidential office chief Andrey Yermak since May, has already been pitched to a number of NATO countries.
The current and former officials who have been briefed on the security compact told Foreign Policy that while the alliance "is keeping the door open" to Ukraine, its membership is unlikely to happen in the short term as the armed conflict continues. "Everyone recognizes that, going forward, Ukraine needs some commitments codified. It somehow needs to be less than Article 5 (of NATO treaty - TASS) but more than the Budapest Memorandum. Everyone is willing to take a look at it, but it will be really difficult to work out on the substance so that all our governments agree," a senior Central European diplomat told the magazine.
The Budapest Memorandum was signed by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Great Britain and the US on December 5, 1994. Under it, Ukraine disposed of its nuclear arsenal, while Russia, the US and the UK issued security guarantees to Kiev.
Commenting on the Kiev Security Compact, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the leadership in Kiev was the only one who could provide security guarantees to Ukraine. Earlier though, Peskov said that the document retained the threat of Ukraine joining NATO and yet underscored the urgent necessity of Russia’s special military operation.