Garcevic Interviewed on Russia-Ukraine Relations
Ambassador Vesko Garcevic, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, was interviewed for a recent article on Russian-Ukrainian relations after the transcript of the talks between United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky were released as well as the recent Western diplomatic pressure on Kyiv to accommodate its position towards the breakup regions in the East.
Garcevic was interviewed for an article entitled “The Implementation of the “Steinmeier Formula” Carries a Risk for Ukraine,” was released on October 15 by Russian program Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
From the text of the article:
Replying to the question of whether President Trump can suspend the US assistance to Ukraine indefinitely, Garcevic pointed out:
Of course, President Trump may postpone or temporarily suspend assistance to Ukraine trying to use this card to get some concessions from Kyiv. No doubt that the US policy towards Ukraine enjoys large, bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Even if the President of Ukraine doesn’t live up to Trump’s hopes, the American President is not in a position to unilaterally challenge the US policy towards Kyiv. However, the current development makes Ukraine look vulnerable and empowers Russia in a critical moment of negotiation on the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.
Commenting on the implementation of the so-called “Steinmeier formula”, Garcevic was quoted as saying:
President Zelensky’s won elections on the promise to bring peace. His efforts to end the war should be praised, but the question is what is the price to be paid. Many in Ukraine believe that stakes are so high for the compromise Zelensky wants to make. The “Steinmeier formula” doesn’t indicate who will be in charge of local elections in the contested areas. It says nothing about whether the OSCE will be observing the electoral process and what the role Ukraine should play. Without full control of the process, local elections in Donbas can politically legitimize warlords and allow Moscow to consolidate its gains from 2014. This may even lead to the federalization of Ukraine what most citizens in the West don’t want to see happening.
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Vesko Garcevic dealt with issues pertinent to European security and NATO for almost 14 years. In 2004, he was posted in Vienna to serve as Ambassador to Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He had been a Montenegro’s Ambassador to NATO from 2010 until 2014 and served as a Montenegro’s National Coordinator for NATO from 2015 until he joined the faculty at the Pardee School.