Ukrainian politician Vadym Chernysh has stated that he hopes that Ukraine will soon recognize the state of Kosovo, adding that there have been major discussions in public opinion recently.
He stated on Thursday on KTV’s “Interaktiv” that after the end of the war between Ukraine and Russia, “we need to do many things together with Kosovars at different levels.”
“I see some changes in public opinion, so I hope it will happen soon. After the end of the conflict, I believe that we need to do many things together with Kosovars at different levels, for example, between academia, NGOs, human contacts, to lead us towards success, to be close friends. I mean, as countries, not just as populations,” he said.
According to the Ukrainian politician, the challenge is to spread this issue and not draw attention to Russian satellites.
“So, this is my challenge as well to explain to as many Ukrainians as I can, also through our media, that we need to do more about the relationship with Kosovo and not pay attention to Russian satellites,” he added.
Chernysh: Kosovo helped us a lot, even though it is threatened
Ukrainian politician Vadym Chernysh has stated that he appreciates the assistance that Kosovo authorities have provided to Ukraine in confronting Russian aggression, while adding that he believes that Kosovo is also a threatened country.
He said on Thursday on KTV’s “Interaktiv” that Serbia helped Ukraine militarily but in exchange for money, while saying that Kosovo helped it free of charge. Chernysh described Serbia as a totalitarian state, while for leader Aleksandar Vučić, he said that he tried to manipulate European countries.
Regarding Serbia, the Ukrainian politician said that it receives money through criminal groups “especially in the Balkans.”
“Mr. Vučić and his team, not his government, but his team, because this is more of a style like in totalitarian states, where he has the position of president and his team or his regime. You know, I would say that they are not just liberals and tend to be more autocratic. They tried to manipulate public opinion in Europe to demonstrate them, when on the one hand you have a goal of European integration, but at the same time to be real allies of Moscow. So the problem is that we need to, I mean, Ukrainians need to explain more about the real goal and really think about the truth of Serbian behavior and highlight some covert actions, I mean other types of support that Serbia has given to Russia and Russian politics. And by the way, many people say that Serbia gave weapons to us Ukrainians. But they did it in exchange for money, not for free, not like Kosovo. Not like other countries, so they took money. As always, they “They get money from everywhere through their criminal organizations, especially in the Balkans,” he stated.
He added that Kosovo gave a lot of support to Ukraine, even though “it is a very small country.”
“…You know, your country is very small, very small, and you were also under threat, maybe not all people will understand this. I don’t know exactly, you know your country better than I do. But you are also under threat, and, being under threat, your government and your president understand this very well. And even in these circumstances, you gave us a lot of support, and we appreciate this. And sometimes you need more support, even moral from your heart, in order to raise morale,” Chernysh said.
He also spoke about Serbian mercenaries fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, linking it to the visit of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić to Moscow.
According to Chernysh, Ukraine should also consider recognizing the Republic of Kosovo.
“There are a lot of Serbian mercenaries in the Russian army and a lot of moral support for them. There is a lot of moral support for Moscow. Refusal to implement some sanctions or to impose some sanctions on Russia and other types of support for Russian officers in Serbia, Serbian passports for rich Russians to travel around Europe, because Russians are banned from entering Europe. So, all those things and with this parade in Moscow are important for Ukrainians, in order to be closer to recognizing Kosovo’s independence. We are responsible, as politicians, non-governmental organizations responsible for promoting this idea,” he said.
Ukrainian politician seeks international presence as alternative to NATO membership
Ukrainian politician Vadym Chernysh has stated that instead of Ukraine’s non-membership in NATO, this country would demand additional security guarantees in order to prevent Russia from returning.
He said on Thursday on KTV’s “Interaktiv” that a large army with a lot of weapons and military security from NATO countries could be an option for an additional guarantee for Ukraine.
“A large army, with a lot of weapons, especially long-range weapons, intelligence and other support, and maybe some international contingents for example in the western part of Ukraine. The French or the British could stay there as a preventive force in order to replace some Ukrainians who could serve closer to the line of contact and the Russian border. So this could be the solution. Additional solution,” Chernysh declared.
He said it would be very difficult to continue the war without the support of the United States, but said it would not be impossible. According to the Ukrainian official, the Ukrainian military would need a period of reformatting “to gather intelligence from other means.”
“Without the United States it would be difficult to continue the war, but it is possible. So we need a few months to change, I would say, our channels to gather intelligence by other means. With our capabilities of our European allies, we need some time to reorganize our military to change our approach. We are creating the so-called drone line, where the kill zone should be approximately 25 kilometers secured by Ukrainian drones, so that this is more difficult, but possible,” he added.
Chernysh added that many Russian troops are destroyed every day, while stating that “the Russians pay an average of 1.200 soldier lives every day.”
“I think we can replace some military personnel. By means of technical means and equipment, this means that if you have a lot of different drones, like marines, and then the system in the air and on the ground, so you can replace some people so that, therefore, pay attention to the fact that for every 100 meters, figuratively count 100 meters of Ukrainian territory every day, they pay with their lives. I mean the Russians pay on average 1.200 lives every day. So this is not just about Ukraine. It is also about Russia,” he said.