2023-08-16 18:37:14
Nicolas Sarkozy in September 2021. FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP
On the occasion of the publication of his new book, the former president delivers a river interview au Figaro, published Wednesday, August 16. At the center of the interview, Nicolas Sarkozy’s position on the outcome of the war in Ukraine, which, according to him, will be diplomatic or will not be.
The former head of state prides himself on knowing Vladimir Putin well, strong from the resolution of the 2008 crisis: when Putin’s Russia massed its tanks at the gates of Georgia, the former president would have it, alone, “convinced to withdraw his tanks”. And even if « on [lui] says that Vladimir Putin is no longer the one [qu’il a] known “Mr. Sarkozy is not ” not convinced “ because the experience of their numerous telephone discussions would be the proof, for him, that the Russian president ” is not irrational. »
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Diplomacy and exchange as the only acceptable solutions
Sarkozy does not believe in resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict through arms. “Diplomacy, discussion, exchange remain the only means of finding an acceptable solution”, he thus declares to the daily newspaper marked on the right.
On Crimea first, “of which a majority of the population has always felt Russian”analyse M. Sarkozy, “Any turning back is illusory”. Although the former president concedes that the annexation of Crimea in 2014 constitutes “a clear violation of international law”the only outcome would be a referendum “organized under the strict control of the international community (…) to confirm the current state of affairs, that is to say, the annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation.
The same path should be explored for “disputed territories of eastern and southern Ukraine”, that the Ukrainian army will nevertheless try to reconquer, “and that’s quite normal”, by force. But the “top exit” would be, once again, a referendum framed by the international community, the only one capable, for Mr. Sarkozy, of “to settle these territorial questions in a definitive and transparent manner”.
As for the accession of Ukraine to the European Union or NATO, after the end of the conflict, the former head of state excludes it. For him, Ukraine should be ” neutral “ because she has “vocation of a bridge between Europe and Russia”. “Asking Ukraine to choose between these two entities seems to me contrary to the history and geography of this complex region”, concludes the former president.
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