The only model for the West to contain the Kremlin's aggression in Ukraine remains a strategy such as the Marshall Plan.
This is for Delfi writes the former Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, reports ZN. UA.
"After the revolution on Maidan, billionaire George Soros and the French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy talked about this. Lithuania even announced that it is ready to make this approach its official policy. Expert Andreas Aslund estimated that with the help of the Marshall Plan, subject to investing $ 5 billion annually in the Ukrainian economy, the Ukrainian annual GDP growth could increase from 2% to 6-8%. This would allow Ukrainians to finally feel that the reforms bring real economic growth, new jobs and high salaries, "he said..
Just like the Marshall Plan for Western Europe, the Ukrainian program should be clearly conditioned by the implementation of reforms in Ukraine. And the transfer of money must require a well-executed job. It is necessary to create a special agency that would deal with the program of assistance to Ukraine.
According to Kubilius, to create the Ukrainian Marshall Plan it is necessary to fulfill two conditions. The first is to clearly understand the reasons and signs of a strategy to contain Russia. In the words of George Kennan, "it is necessary to oppose Russia at every point, inclusive with Ukraine". Secondly, we need leadership in the West, which could be compared with the leadership of Henry Truman and Zdorj Marshall in 1947.
According to him, Moscow's main fear is the possibility of Ukrainian success, which will affect Russian society and jeopardize the existence of the current regime in the Kremlin.
Kubilius believes that Vladimir Putin's long-term goal is simple.
"He wants to weaken Ukraine economically and not allow the Ukrainian authorities to focus on the implementation of vital reforms with the help of a smoldering conflict in Donbass. Similarly, Stalin once tried to prevent Western Europe from recovering and achieving success. The Russian leadership uses Ukrainian populists, as the USSR once used the European Communists to stop reforms. The Kremlin is also trying to play on Ukrainians' disappointments, "Kublius writes.
He also added that while the West does not have a strategy to disrupt Putin's scenario in Ukraine.
"We see Western sanctions against Russia, we see efforts aimed at making Putin fulfill the Minsk agreements. But there is no Western strategy towards Ukraine, which would be similar to approaching Jorge Marshall to Western Europe, "writes the Lithuanian politician.
In his opinion, Ukraine should have significance for the West not only for the sake of stopping Putin's imperialistic ambitions or because it abandoned the nuclear arsenal under Western security guarantees that turned out to be empty.
It should be important for the West, because through it, America and Europe can help Russia change and become a European country with time. Ukrainian success will become an instrument of the West to prevent a major tectonic conflict on the European continent that may break out between undemocratic Moscow and the liberal West.
As reported by the "Observer", earlier the expert expressed the opinion that the Marshall Plan for Ukraine has already been launched.
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