Ukrainian ambassador: Ceasefire agreement with Russia won't work, credible security guarantees are needed

Ukraine wants a fair, lasting peace and not just a ceasefire agreement with Russia, which, according to previous experience, will not work anyway, Kyiv's ambassador in Bucharest Ihor Prokopchuk declared on Thursday at a meeting with Romanian journalists.A ceasefire agreement will not work, we must make efforts for a fair and lasting peace. And this means that Ukraine needs security guarantees to prevent a new Russian aggression, the diplomat pointed out, detailing that one option for these guarantees is the future deployment of a peacekeeping contingent to Ukraine.The subject is in talks as to who will participate, the size of the contingent and its role. All these aspects need to be clarified and discussed. (...) Some states counter that they are not ready to contribute military personnel, others want to participate. Whatever the case, there will be a coalition of those who offer their resources for such a deployment, the Ukrainian ambassador also said.He reiterated that Romania's aid to the war-embattled neighboring country is exclusively the decision of the national authorities.Obviously, Ukraine and Romania are neighboring states, we are Black Sea countries that are both interested in security and stability in the Black Sea region. I believe that we will find useful ways of cooperation, depending on what the Romanian authorities decide, Prokopciuk said.Referencing the recent history of the Russian-Ukrainian conflicts, including the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, he explained that the weak response to Crimea's invasion by Russia back then has emboldened to Russia to escalate and enter eastern Ukraine, in Donetsk and Luhansk, and once they failed to achieve their political goals by fueling the conflict there, the Russians turned this into a full-scale invasion. (...) We cannot afford a weak response when it comes to bringing the war to end. This has to come from a position of strength, and we must achieve peace through a posture of power. This is the main direction to pursue, Prokopchuk explained.The diplomat went on to note that when they reach Ukraine, the peace signals set out by Kremlin turn into missiles, drones, bombs and other deadly weapons, and this happens every day.We are the ones who desire peace the most, (...) but it is clear to us that this should not be just a ceasefire deal. We've had this experience 11 years ago and we saw how things escalated, we had the experience of the Minsk Agreements, he pointed out, emphasizing that security guarantees for Ukraine are the watchword in the process of finding solutions to end the Russian aggression. (Photo:https://mfa.gov.ua/)