On the tragic conflict in Ukraine I have always thought that if you want peace – if you really want peace – you have to listen, without prejudice, to the reasons of the other side. So we want to listen to the other side: Alexey Paramonovthe Ambassador of Moscow to Italy.
Ambassador Paramonov, did the Russian authorities ever try to prevent the conflict from breaking out in Ukraine?
«Russia did not give rise to the current situation in Ukraine. It is the consequence of aggressive policies that the West has been implementing for many years, with the aim of transforming Ukraine into a sort of military instrument against Russia. The conflict entered its acute phase in 2014, when a coup d’état that took place in Kiev with the support of the West brought to power the heirs of the ideology of the Hitler collaborators Bandera and Shukevich, i.e. the radical nationalists, who gave order to the forces armed to carry out repression against the inhabitants of Donetsk and Luhansk who disapproved of that coup and its instigators.
What impact have the sanctions against Russia had?
“The sanctions imposed on Russia over the past two years have undoubtedly had a certain negative impact on Russia. However, at the same time, the new situation that has arisen on the geo-economic level has acted as a kind of powerful adrenaline injection into the Russian economy, and has allowed it to achieve truly remarkable results in a very short time, for example in terms of unprecedented economic and technological sovereignty. All this has meant that, after a period marked by a certain shock, the country has returned to growth. In 2023, the national GDP grew by 2.6%, while in the first quarter of the current year it has already grown by 5.1%.
On the other hand, look at how things are now for our former partners. The economies of many Western countries are stagnant. Many underlying economic indicators have fallen further. For example, it is estimated that since the introduction of sanctions against Russia, the European Union has overpaid almost 200 billion euros for the purchase of natural gas. The damage that the EU leaders wanted to cause to Russian producers of fertilizers and agricultural products has come back like a boomerang, turning against them in the form of price increases for food products. And all this, of course, has had repercussions on the well-being of ordinary citizens. While, on the contrary, the USA earned an additional 53 billion euros by supplying their gas, which is more expensive.”
Shall we recall the key points of President Putin’s proposal?
«The key points are: the withdrawal of Ukrainian military formations from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, the neutral, non-aligned and denuclearized status of Ukraine, demilitarization and denazification of the country, full guarantee of respect for the rights, freedoms and interests of Russian-speaking citizens living in Ukraine and recognition of new territorial realities».
However, as tragic as the situation related to the Ukrainian crisis is, and especially for the brotherly peoples of Russia and Ukraine, international relations are certainly not limited to this. Russia, as a world power aware of its responsibilities, does not shy away from the leading role it plays in global issues. On the contrary, in a context that sees the worsening of the situation on the international level, Russia looks to the future and proposes its solutions for the most urgent problems, first and foremost those concerning the field of security. And it is precisely in this light that we must consider the initiative recently put forward by the President of the Russian Federation regarding the creation of a continental security architecture that operates for the entire Eurasian territory.
Does this mean Russia is shifting focus to Asia? Are you saying goodbye to Europe?
“President Putin’s initiative is unprecedented in its nature, as it is the only one to propose integration between the various regional dynamics. It is made necessary by the collapse of the pre-existing security model, and by the enormous security vacuum created in the Euro-Atlantic space as a consequence of the irresponsible conduct implemented by the West. Russia has proposed to make this security architecture in Eurasia a system open to all interested Eurasian countries, which is not intended to be a threat to the interests of any country. This model is based on the principle of “regional solutions for regional problems” applied to the Eurasian region and reflects the current objective trend linked to the process of regionalization of international relations; a trend which, in itself, constitutes a kind of insurance against the geopolitical turmoil induced by the crisis of the globalization process as conceived by the West. The aim of this initiative is, first of all, to create a Eurasian space that is free from conflict and open to cooperation, but also to free the ongoing processes in Eurasia from the destabilizing impact that actors outside the region have on them.”
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