The conflict between Moscow and Kiev really began in 2008 when NATO agreed to eventually admit Ukraine, Vaclav Klaus said<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the result of a series of mistakes made by the US and its NATO allies, former Czech President Vaclav Klaus told the World Economic Forum in Davos in a speech published on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The West\u2019s blatant disregard for the geopolitical context led to this \u201ctragic historic event\u201d<\/em> that \u201ccould and should have been avoided,\u201d<\/em> Klaus, who led the Czech Republic between 2003 and 2013, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis war started on 4 April 2008,\u201d<\/em> Klaus argued, referring to a NATO summit in Bucharest, where members of the US-led bloc decided to support Ukraine and Georgia\u2019s \u201caspirations for membership,\u201d<\/em> saying both nations \u201cwill become members of NATO\u201d<\/em> at some point in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recalling the event at which he was present, Klaus called it\u00a0\u201ca tragic mistake.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0He said he had personally opposed the decision and\u00a0\u201ctried to argue against it,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0but it was\u00a0\u201cpushed through by the US and the UK.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most other NATO members, including Germany and France, were also against it at the time, he said, adding that many of the attending presidents and prime ministers stayed \u201cirresponsibly silent\u201d<\/em> in the face of pressure from London and Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The West remained oblivious to the nature of Ukrainian statehood, Klaus argued, calling the country an example of an \u201cunsuccessful and unfinished transition from communism to parliamentary democracy and market economy.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ukraine, he said, was not \u201ca consolidated country\u201d<\/em> as it had major differences in ethnic composition and political preferences between its northwest and southeast. The country had already been in a state of \u201ccivil war\u201d<\/em> since 2014, long before the current escalation, Klaus said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the US-backed coup in 2014, the then-Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, known as Donbass, refused to accept the new government, which increasingly embraced nationalist ideology. The regions proclaimed their independence and Kiev responded with a military campaign that led to a years-long conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201dTo pretend that this was not the case and to discuss the current war\u2026 as if it were taking place in a vacuum is neither helpful nor productive,\u201d<\/em> Klaus argued, adding that it was \u201ca big mistake not to pay attention to this fundamental split\u201d<\/em> within the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Klaus also argued that Moscow had not intended to occupy Ukraine when it launched its military operation in February 2022, but merely sought to prevent it from joining NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin also recently pointed to NATO\u2019s 2008 decision as making conflict inevitable, having \u201cdrastically changed the situation in Eastern Europe.\u201d<\/em> Moscow has repeatedly said that preventing Ukraine\u2019s accession to NATO is one of the key reasons for its military campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is now clear that \u201call sides in the conflict have miscalculated,\u201d<\/em> Klaus said, adding that the frontlines remain \u201cfrozen\u201d<\/em> and no end to the conflict is in sight. He called on the West to change its approach and engage in meaningful dialogue with Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n