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Peace is not ‘no war’ and derisking has risks: Josep Borrell
During an interview with The Straits Times, the EU’s foreign policy czar talks about the meaning of peace in Ukraine, the sanctions against Russia and the global trend towards de-risking. Here are excerpts from the interview.
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Mr Josep Borrell says peace is to recognise the right of Ukraine to exist and to arrange for war reparations and accountability from Russia.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
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Q: Short of an unconditional Russian withdrawal or a Ukrainian military victory, does the European Union have a peace plan for Ukraine that would be acceptable to both sides?
A: Look, everybody wants peace. Us too. And the ones who want peace the most are the Ukrainians. But what does peace mean? Peace is something more than “not war”. We should not confuse the terms. If I want to stop the war, I know how to do it very quickly, in one week. I stop supporting Ukraine, stop sending arms to Ukraine and the war will stop because Ukraine will have to surrender. Would that mean peace? No. Peace is something more. Peace means to recognise the right of Ukraine to exist, to respect international borders, to arrange for war reparations and accountability from Russia. I understand at the moment, it’s not very propitious for that because Russia wants to continue attacking Ukraine. So, yes, of course we want peace, but unhappily, we have to face a situation where the war will continue.
