In an interview with Swiss magazine Zeitgeschehen Im Focus on Ukraine’s prospects of winning the war, former inspector General of the Bundeswehr Harald Kujat said he knows from “reliable sources” that Boris Johnson intervened in April 2022 to prevent the Ukrainian-Russian peace treaty that had already been negotiated. According to the General, his reasoning was that “the West is not ready for an end to the war.”
“Ukraine had committed itself (in the negotiations in Istanbul at the end of March 2022 ; ed.) to renouncing NATO membership and not allowing the stationing of foreign troops or military facilities. In return, they should receive security guarantees from states of their choice. The The future of the occupied territories should be resolved diplomatically within 15 years, with the explicit renunciation of military force,” he said.
Russia had warned Ukraine at the time that breaking off negotiations would result in territorial losses.
Kujat also criticizes the reporting of the Ukraine conflict, stressing it was also about an “information war”:
“The Ukraine war is not only a military conflict; it is also an economic and information war. In this information war, one can become a participant in the war by embracing information and arguments that one cannot verify or judge on one’s own authority. In some cases, moral or ideological motives also play a role. This is particularly problematic in Germany, because it is mostly “experts” who have their say in the media who have no knowledge or experience of security policy or strategy, and who therefore express opinions that they derive from the publications of other “experts” with comparable expertise. Obviously, this also puts political pressure on the federal government. The debate about the delivery of certain weapon systems clearly shows the intention of many media to make politics themselves.”
Kujat says the handling of the war in Ukraine in Germany shows a “lack of a sense of responsibility:
“I find it particularly annoying that so little attention is paid to German security interests and the dangers to our country as a result of the war escalating and escalating. This shows a lack of responsibility or, to use an old-fashioned term, a highly unpatriotic attitude. In the United States, one of the two main actors in this conflict, the handling of the Ukraine war is much more differentiated and controversial, but always guided by national interests.”
According to Kujat, “one of the triggers for the war” was the deliberate deception behind the Minsk agreements:
“Russia understandably calls this a scam. And Merkel confirms that Russia was deliberately deceived. You can assess that however you want, but it is a blatant breach of trust and a question of political predictability. What cannot be denied, however, is that the refusal of the Ukrainian government – aware of this intended deception – to implement the agreement just a few days before the start of the war was one of the triggers for the war.”
The general says Ukraine cannot win the war, and the territorial changes that Russia made at the end of September are “difficult to reverse.” Further arms deliveries to Ukraine will “pointlessly prolong the war,” and “now would be the right time to resume the broken-off negotiations”:
“The arms shipments mean the opposite, meaning that the war will be needlessly prolonged, with more casualties on both sides and the continued destruction of the country. But also with the result that we are drawn even deeper into this war.”
