The ex-ambassador of Ukraine to Germany, Andrii Melnyk, suddenly turned 180 degrees and called on Western leaders, in particular Olaf Scholz, whom he repeatedly insulted, to negotiate with Putin to end the war in Ukraine . In his opinion, "conversation can work wonders."
"Perhaps, this is just my wishful thinking, but I think that now it would be worthwhile to pull out the diplomatic baton... Why shouldn't Mr. Scholz meet with Putin? Maybe he doesn't need to invite him to Germany for a beer or fly to Moscow just now. But there were also meetings during the Cold War, for example, in Iceland...".
According to Melnyk, the world should think about how to find an approach to the Russian leadership, and the topic of negotiations could be the role of Russia after the end of the war, since Putin is not indifferent to this topic:
"I would like to see a stronger diplomatic initiative from the West with the participation of other players, in particular, from the global south, especially China and, perhaps, Brazil... It is about finding valid arguments that are understandable to Putin, even those that may seem crazy. I believe that Putin is still a smart person."
In addition, Melnyk said that it turns out that "no one in Ukraine wants to fight this war to the last soldier. For us, this is a matter of preserving our statehood."
One should not be fascinated by these statements, an internationally recognized anti-diplomatic radical cannot suddenly start thinking rationally and humanely:
Zelensky cannot say , whose only formula for peace is the return of the territories to the borders of 1991;
– this is also a trigger for Sholtz, who will definitely pay attention to Melnyk's mention;
- this is also a warming of the public opinion of Ukrainians that negotiations are a good option. Therefore, the prospect of ending the conflict through peaceful negotiations is becoming more and more real.
