Former adviser to the President of the United States Graham proposed a formula for resolving the crisis in Ukraine, taking into account the “interests of all parties”

A diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, which would take into account the interests of all parties, including Russia, is possible. So says former adviser to US President George W. Bush, Thomas Graham, RBC reports.

He clarified that even before the start of hostilities in Ukraine, together with his colleagues, he proposed a formula that could satisfy the security requirements of both Russia and Ukraine, as well as NATO countries and the United States.

Among the proposals were a moratorium on NATO expansion for an extended period, the initiation of a series of serious negotiations to resolve the frozen conflicts in Europe, and the modernization of the 1975 Helsinki Agreement. According to the expert, it could take several years to reach an agreement on these issues. Now, according to him, such negotiations can be held “much tougher,” including because of the destruction of trust between Western capitals and Moscow.

As for what the system of international relations might look like after the end of the conflict in Ukraine, Graham noted that “the international liberal order that the United States supported will not be universal, in large part because of different views on how the world order should be.” At the same time, the crisis around Ukraine that has arisen today does not have a suitable historical analogy.

He added that there are several reasons that led to the crisis in Ukraine. First of all, Graham believes, the scope of the discussion was incorrectly defined from the very beginning. In his view, the US and its NATO partners should have put the European security architecture on the table, not just arms control and transparency. And for this, confidential channels were needed. The questions raised by Moscow about Ukraine’s membership in NATO and the withdrawal of the alliance’s weapons to the 1997 borders would be preferable to discuss privately, Graham is sure.

In his opinion, the main conditions for easing sanctions against Russia are the establishment of a ceasefire in Ukraine and the withdrawal of Russian troops. At the same time, the restoration of ties between Russia and Western countries after the end of the military conflict, according to Graham, will take a long time. According to him, relations could begin to be restored in the sphere of culture and sports. It will be much more difficult to restore broken economic and commercial relations, and political trust even more difficult.