Sarkozy: Europe Dancing on the Edge of A Volcano

By Staff, Agencies

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has warned that he Western push to incorporate Ukraine into NATO can only lead to an escalation of the conflict with Russia, expressing doubt that the opposing parties in the stand-off have used all the tools at their disposal to achieve peace.

Speaking to TF1 TV on Wednesday, Sarkozy stressed that he believes Ukraine must remain “neutral” and refrain from joining the EU and NATO.

“This is not the solution. The solution is to discuss, for reasonable people to sit around the table, for us to give Ukraine security guarantees and for us to engage in a discussion to see at least if we can get out of it other than by annihilating either Ukraine or Russia,” he said.

Victory in the conflict can be achieved either by destroying an enemy, or finding a compromise, according to the French president, who called on the West to “stop talking about buying planes, ammunition, tanks.”

He further added that the international community must “find a solution that preserves the interests of Ukraine,” noting that “Russia won’t go anywhere, with or without [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.”