RUSSIALINK: “Helping Ukraine to Help Ourselves; Russia and the international community should take advantage of this window of opportunity.” – Moscow Times/ Igor Ivanov
“It is common knowledge that Russia and the leading Western states have wildly different assessments of the Ukrainian crisis with regard to its causes, nature and driving forces. Some of these differences will be very hard to overcome, particularly in the short term. … notwithstanding, it is absolutely clear that both Russia and the West should be extremely interested in reducing tensions with respect to Ukraine and launching a constructive political dialogue on issues related to the crisis.
After all, in the final analysis, we are not just talking about Ukraine as such; we are also talking about the basic foundations of European and Euro-Atlantic security, which are crumbling …. Russia and the West have experience of such a dialogue, although it is very limited at present. [Ivanov goes to include mention of t]he creation of the Normandy Four on the resolution of the situation in Ukraine and the launch of the Minsk process …. often criticized for moving too slowly, being bogged down with numerous delays and failing to ensure the implementation of the agreements reached [yet arguing that] no fundamental alternative has emerged over the course of the past four years. …”
“Igor Ivanov is President of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC). He was Russia’s Foreign Minister from 1998 to 2004.”
[featured image is file photo from another occasion]