With a view to the speediest de-occupation of the territories, Ukraine should rely on a substantial strengthening of its own army and on accelerated integration into the European Union and NATO.

This opinion was expressed to the "Observer" by the Russian lawyer Mark Feigin.

Commenting on the three wishes expressed to the country's leadership by the former adviser to the Russian president, Andrei Illarionov, he noted: "Discussions are permissible here, although the common vector is clearer - to more strictly defend Ukraine's sovereignty".

The lawyer proposed an "amendment" to the second paragraph of the proposals, which relate to the emphasis on the Budapest Memorandum, and not on the Minsk Agreements. "The Budapest memorandum presupposes the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and the Minsk format is far from this principle - it admits some form of federalization, contains a claim to possible isolation of these territories," he acknowledged.. At the same time, Feigin recalled the conditions under which the Minsk Agreements were adopted: "They were adopted in the conditions of war, when the prospect of going abroad of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, a breakthrough to Kiev, looked quite likely when Ukraine was de facto opposed by the Russian army, when the Ukrainian The army was only being formed ".

Thus, according to the lawyer, the Minsk agreements are "permissible for a transitional period in order to have time to create a new efficient combat-ready professional army".

He also added Illarionov's list of two points. The first is the already mentioned strengthening of the army, and the second is the accelerated integration into the European Union and NATO.

In this context, Feigin admitted that today countries that have "unresolved territorial issues" are not admitted to NATO membership,. Nevertheless, he is convinced that this problem can be overcome "through international negotiations, through support from Western friends of Ukraine".

The lawyer also noted that for the entire post-war period the Alliance demonstrated the possibility of civilized de-occupation of the occupied territories and never acted as an invader. This was the case, in particular, in the Yugoslav conflict. "This is fundamentally different from the Warsaw Pact and the current Kremlin policy. NATO shows an example of how to implement security guarantees, rather than aggressive plans of neighbors, "he stressed..

As the "Observer" wrote, in April of this year, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Ivanna Klimpush-Tsintsadze stated: Ukraine does not require immediate membership, but seeks to deepen cooperation with the bloc to ensure its security.

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