James Sherr: In case of success Ukraine will bury imperial Russia

In case of success Ukraine could become a grave for Russian imperialism, otherwise there will be severe consequences for the countries of the region, announced James Sherr, the Fellow of the Royal Institute of International Affairs "Chatham House" during the 8th Kyiv Security Forum organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation.

"Ukraine can become a grave, a cemetery for a new Russian imperialism, if succeeds," - he said.

However, in case of loss of Ukraine or its collapse, it will have serious consequences for all the neighboring countries and will undermine the image of integrity and solidarity of NATO.

According to J.Sherr, no security system provides the full security and "the only reliable system is shared values and interests of the members of the system”.

That is why, the British expert is convinced that Ukraine's aspirations concerning NATO should be supported.

However, he warned that during war such pursuit can distract from more important needs - "the consolidation of the country, repelling aggression and termination of the occupation regime in the Crimea and Donbas." In Sherr’s opinion, today it is pretty unlikely, that all members of the Alliance will support Ukraine's membership.

Given this the British expert pointed out the importance of using common strategic interests.

“Creating a containment system within Ukraine. Strengthening of deterrence system itself on the western borders of Ukraine is not enough. This requires the strengthening of NATO military support, which will allow solving key issues - to ensure communication, not just to provide weapons. But in some cases, weapons shall also be useful,” - he said.

According to J.Sherr, transformation of  Ukraine’s military state organization is very important. For cooperation between Ukraine and NATO there must be joint work in planning, reconstruction and optimization of command and control systems to carry out, he said.

For your information:
The annual international event ‘Kyiv Security Forum’, established by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation in 2007 is a platform for discussion of the most pressing issues concerning the security in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum is aimed at promoting security cooperation between the European Union and the Black Sea Region, raising awareness of the development of security among key players and strengthening the role of independent and non-governmental actors in solving security problems in Europe.