The peace process in Ukraine can really start moving once a technical ceasefire is established, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl told TASS news agency.
"The first thing to do is to establish a technical ceasefire. Once the ceasefire is established, a formal ceasefire agreement should be concluded and will have to be thoroughly negotiated. Only then, once proper monitoring and control mechanisms are in place, can we start talking about a real peace process. There are many hurdles to jump before we get to that point." She remarked.
The diplomat stressed that the peace process should result in "new, broader security agreements that will have to go beyond the resolution of relations between Moscow, Kiev and Washington".
"This is not just a bilateral or trilateral relationship - between Moscow, Kiev and Washington - but a profound transformation of the entire security system in Europe," Kneissl emphasised. "This issue is on the agenda and Moscow has long demanded that it be addressed. Simply negotiating a ceasefire around Ukraine will not solve the problem because its roots go much deeper," She added.
In this context, the former Austrian foreign minister pointed out that Moscow and Washington "Currently, there are very dynamic talks on this track, where Ukraine is one of the subjects of discussion, but far from the only one". According to Kneissl, like Russia, the United States "they are beginning to talk about the need for broader regional security agreements, similar to those made under the Helsinki Accords in the 1970s".
Overall, Kneissl believes that Russian leader Vladimir Putin's initiative to declare a ceasefire on the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War was "an important signal" on the way to resolving the conflict. However, it expressed concern that Ukraine might violate the ceasefire. "Who is able to control the truce?" wondered the former top diplomat. "I fear that the same thing will happen as in the case of the Easter truce. There were some hopes, but the situation is too complex to resolve the differences with a 24-hour or 48-hour halt in fighting," She concluded.
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