Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has said it would be ‘fatal’ for the West to get swept up in the ‘mood of the moment’ and forget Russia’s position of power within Europe and suggested Ukraine should give up territory, reported Daily Mail.
Kissinger, 98, was speaking during the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland.
Kissinger said Ukraine should begin negotiations before it creates upheavals and tensions that will not be easy to overcome.
“Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the status quo ante. Pursuing the war beyond that point will not be about the freedom of Ukraine, but a new war against Russia itself,” he told the conference on Monday.
These statements come after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s opening speech at this week’s Davos summit.
Zelensky had said that brute force will once again rule the world if Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is allowed to go unanswered.
He told delegates that their summit would become pointless if Putin was allowed to win the war.
According to The Telegraph, he explained that Russia was an ‘essential part of Europe’ for over 400 years, noting that European leaders must ‘not lose sight of the longer-term relationship’ or otherwise risk putting Russia in a permanent alliance with China.
He also said, “I hope the Ukrainians will match the heroism they have shown with wisdom.”
Zelensky’s speech came at the start of the four days of talks during which Ukraine is expected to launch a global charm offensive to secure economic and military backing to ensure survival.
This year, Russia will take part in the Davos meeting as the organisers had banned Moscow from sending a delegation.
“The theme for this year’s summit is, ‘history at a turning point’,” Zelensky told a packed auditorium on Monday morning.
“This year, the words, turning, and point, are more than a rhetorical talking point. This year is the year when it is decided whether brute force will rule the world,” he said.
“If so, the powerful are not interested in our thoughts and there is no further use for meeting in Davos,” he said.
Zelensky said, “The Brute force seeks nothing but the subjugation of those who it seeks to subdue and it does not talk, it kills, as Russia does in Ukraine, just as we speak today.”
Recalling the horrors of Russia’s invasion, Zelensky said, “Instead of peaceful cities there are only black ruins, instead of normal trade, seas full of mines and blocked ports, instead of tourists, closed skies and the sound of Russian bombs and cruise missiles.”
“This is what the world will look like if that turning moment does not have a proper response from humanity, it would resemble a large set of war crimes,” he said.