West 'Anxious' Trying to Find 'Way Out' of Ukrainian Conundrum

On Tuesday, a group of representatives from the United States, Spain and the Czech Republic arrived in Lviv for a three-day examination of Ukrainian military facilities.

"A multinational inspection group arrived to Lviv to inspect a defined location under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE)," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry added that the goal of the inspection was to control the observation of troop ceilings set by the treaty.

Earlier in February, Kiev said that Ukraine fully complies with its CFE obligations as was proved by the German delegation which visited the country for inspection.

The CFE Treaty was agreed during the last years of the Cold War and was signed in 1990 between 16 NATO member states and six Warsaw Treaty states. The document established limits on the main categories of conventional military equipment in Europe. In particular, the treaty was aimed at preventing a military potential for a surprise attack or large-scale offensive actions in Europe.

In an interview with Radio Sputnik, Rostislav Ishchenko, head of the Center for Systemic Analysis and Prognosis, drew a parallel between the current situation in Ukraine and the situation in Afghanistan, back when the West used it  in the standoff against the Soviet Union.

"In terms of relations with the West, Ukraine resembles Afghanistan to some extent. Back in the day, the West fueled the turmoil in Afghanistan to irritate Moscow," Ishchenko.

However, according to the analyst, there is a difference between the two situations.

"As for Afghanistan, the West achieved the goal for 10 years, and only then Afghanistan became a headache for them. But the Ukrainian scenario did not work and Ukraine immediately turned into a problem for the West," he pointed out.

He added that the West understands that and is now trying to find a way out.

"The West is not trying to use Ukraine to screw over Russia. They are struggling to get out of this mess. The West understands that Ukraine is in a deep political crisis and the situation could reach the point of no return already this year. The West is anxious because it wouldn’t like the consequences," Ishchenko concluded.

 

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