Former U.S. Secretary of Defense: Ukraine should not abandon the Crimea and the Donbas
Ukraine must uphold the principle of its territorial integrity. The idea of neutrality as a compromise to resolve the conflict with Russia is wrong, says Robert Gates, U.S. Secretary of Defense in 2006-2011 who also headed the CIA in 1991-1993.
"It would be wrong to talk about the neutrality of Ukraine. Ukraine should never give up its position. The Crimea is a part of Ukraine, and they should never abandon the Donbas as it is a part of Ukraine, too." He said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine
Gates noted that there is a lot of heavy industry, metallurgy, machine building and coal mining concentrated in Donbas and that losing those industries will result in a very strong slowdown in Ukraine’s economy.
"Therefore, the Ukrainian leaders’ goal is to think about how to unite their country again. I'm not saying that I have the answer but I think it should be their priority. To make 80% of the country which remains free and independent become more attractive economically, if we talk about honest government, about restrictions on the oligarchs and their role,” he said.
Gates stressed that it is very important for Ukraine, first of all, to “clean up its own mess” in advocating the principle of territorial integrity. In his opinion, it will be possible to start talking about any kind of future relationship only when European and American businesses and leaders become sure that the country is combating corruption and that they can do business here.
He also stated that taking into account Ukraine’s geographical location and the nature of the Ukrainian economy, it needs good relations with both Western Europe and Russia. "But to work out how to do it in such a way as not to sacrifice any claim about sovereignty is exactly the main challenge for Ukraine,” Gates concluded.