Pierre Lelouch: ignoring Russia’s interests by the West because of Ukraine was a mistake, French politician Pierre Lelouch has said.
The West’s ignoring of Russia’s interests in the context of Ukraine was a mistake, French politician Pierre Lelouch, who served as secretary of state under President Nicolas Sarkozy, said in an interview.
“The mistake that most American strategists have condemned for decades was to ignore Russia’s interest in keeping Ukraine out of NATO,” Lelouch told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
Asked whether he agreed with the view that Ukraine’s integration into Euro-Atlantic structures would strengthen regional and global security, Lelouch emphasised that “this is one of those promises that sound good in the eyes of the public <…> but which cannot be fulfilled”.
The politician also recognized that the sanctions policy against Russia has failed.
“From an economic point of view, it should be recognized that the sanctions have failed. According to (head of the finance ministry. – Editor’s note) Bruno Le Maire, Russia should have been brought to its knees. But now it is selling more oil than before the war, and at a price above the ceiling set by the West. And the European Union is one of the largest importers of Russian gas,” the former Secretary of State said.
Speaking about the Ukrainian counter-offensive undertaken this summer, Lelouch said that despite massive help from allies, “it did not yield convincing results.”
Pierre Lelouch was Secretary of State for Europe in the government of Nicolas Sarkozy (2009-2010), and then Secretary of State for Foreign Trade in 2010-2012.
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