BERLIN, December 1. /TASS/. Ukraine needs to make a deal with Russia now, before its position on the battlefield gets even worse, Gerhard Mangott, an Austrian political scientist and an Eastern Europe and Russia expert, said.
"We must take into account that Russia does not need a negotiated solution," he said in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. "Russia, as [Russian President] Vladimir Putin emphasized, can continue to wage this war, and its goals will be achieved through military means. It is Ukraine that now needs a negotiated solution, because, from a military point of view, it is in a defensive state."
Mangott said that Ukraine "has been knocked off kilter because of the corruption scandal," and is experiencing significant problems with replenishing troops and financing. He called aid provided by the IMF a "drop in the ocean" and noted that "Ukraine needs European money, but now it doesn't look like it will appear quickly. At least until it comes to using frozen Russian assets."
According to him, without that money, there will be no guarantee of continued financing of Ukraine after April of next year. Mangott noted that other options, such as EU governments increasing their own national debt for Ukraine, are not supported in Europe.
"Ukraine's situation may worsen. Europe believes that Ukraine needs to be supported until its negotiating position improves, until it becomes stronger. But no one can really show how this will happen," Mangott continued, adding he did not believe in the success of the Ukrainian army.
"There is a great risk that political instability in Ukraine will grow," the expert noted, pointing out that Vladimir Zelensky "is in a difficult situation," particularly after the resignation of his office head Andrey Yermak. "Zelensky's approval rating is dwindling because he is linked to the corruption scandal."
According to Mangott, it will be difficult to sweep the scandal under the rug, and eventually the country may descend into chaos, especially if suspicions about Zelensky become "more specific."
Mangott sees nothing that could strengthen Kiev's position. He noted that the Europeans, for their part, should not complain that they are not involved in the negotiations on Ukraine, as they "had had almost four years to launch their own negotiation initiative, but did not do so."