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Austria’s former top diplomat doesn’t rule out territorial changes in Ukraine

Karin Kneissl drew attention to reports saying that CEO of the US investment company BlackRock Larry Fink is already taking part in discussions of Ukraine’s future restoration

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Former Austrian Foreign Minister, head of the G.O.R.K.I. center at St. Petersburg State University Karin Kneissl has told TASS that she doesn’t rule out dramatic changes in Ukraine’s territorial structure in the future.

When asked how long it may take to restore trust to Ukraine in the international arena after the Ukrainian conflict is settled so that it could become a full-fledged participant in international relations, she said that this would depend largely on that country’s territorial structure. "Because I can easily imagine that Ukraine’s territory will change dramatically. It may well have an utterly new structure - more decentralized, with stronger federalism where Russian-speaking regions enjoy greater cultural or, probably, political autonomy. I mean in particular Odessa and southern Ukraine," she said.

She drew attention to reports saying that CEO of the US investment company BlackRock Larry Fink is already taking part in discussions of Ukraine’s future restoration. "Naturally, these reports need to be verified. But this is about Ukraine, its ores and natural resources. It is also about the so-called strategic resources, i.e. agricultural products. And BlackRock is the largest investor in resource assets. Apart from that, Chinese investors are demonstrating great interest in Ukraine’s farming sector," Kneissl noted. "So, all of this will largely depend on what kind of Ukraine we will see in the future, which model of the state system it will have and whether it will be a federative state."

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