The combination of the polices of the government in Kiev and Washington blaming Russia for events is pushing the situation in Ukraine to a critical mass which threaten peace in Europe Willie Wimmer, former Vice President of the OSCE, tells RT.
RT:As it stands at the moment, America seems to think the more Russia is punished here, the more sorted the situation will be, do you agree with that?
Willie Wimmer: I think the situation is totally complicated and everything we know perhaps goes back to the Cuban crisis some decades ago.
RT:In that the Cold War continues?
WW: I think it’s even more complicated. It’s not only a Cold War it can be outstanding and dangerous and when we go back to the Cuban crisis, we know that big powers usually draw a red line and for the Americans it had been 90 km away from Miami there shouldn’t be a Soviet nuclear arsenal. And here in the Ukraine, it’s again similar. The Russian Federation draws a red line and they are not interested in having a country direct in their neighborhood who might change itself into a living danger, like a land mine, like a nuclear arsenal, which is located next to my own border. And therefore I think we face a critical situation in the next few weeks, perhaps even the next days and we only can hope that somebody might intervene in a sympathetic way and not create war in Europe.
RT:What’s the attitude in your country, in Germany, I mean your closer to the border than America certainly is. What do most Germans think about this these days?
WW: I think most Germans, they have really problems when they look at the actual situation and there is a lot of fear ongoing. This fear might be in a critical situation when it comes to the visit of our chancellor to Washington in the next week or so and many people think that Angela Merkel might arrive in Washington and we still have peace and when she will come back to Berlin there might be a different situation, perhaps even war. And therefore there’s an ongoing fear in Germany because of the situation and they don’t blame Russia for this situation, they look on Washington.
RT:And it’s Washington that’s pushing Europe here then yeah, as you see it?
WW: It’s not only Washington pushing the Europeans, its Washington which organized the events which are going on in the Ukraine, and we can go back to remarks being made by Mrs. Nuland that they invested more than 6 billion dollars to create such a critical mass, which led in the end to the Maidan development and therefore they want a return of investment.
RT:You’re a much respected diplomat, politician over the years, how do you think this is going to play out over the next month or so?
WW: I hope that we have some negotiations for an agreement and when we back to the Cuban crisis it was a direct link between President Kennedy and Secretary General Khrushchev who made it possible to find a solution and therefore I think it’s not a question of negotiations, there has to be direct contact between Obama and Putin, otherwise we face more than a critical situation.
RT:How much of a role does the local interim Ukrainian government have here then, it’s kind of out of their hands, in Washington’s hands, because we’ve got them calling the people in the east here a mob?
WW: I think the junta, as far as I see it in Kiev, is playing a dangerous card. They are acting against their own population as if they would be enemies, you can’t keep tanks and artillery and planes going against your own people, as long as they have occupied houses or have barricades. Usually in these circumstances this is a question for the police and not for the military. And therefore I think the junta In Kiev is like trigger for a mine, and this mine will explode sooner or later.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.