‘Sarkozy was right’: negotiations with Russia are becoming an inevitable outcome due to the failure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counteroffensive – Luc Ferry says

Nicolas Sarkozy was right.

This statement was made by the French politician and publicist, former Minister for Youth Affairs, National Education and Scientific Research (2002-2004), Luc Ferry, in his article in the newspaper Le Figaro.

He agrees with the position of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy (2007-2012), which emphasizes the need for negotiations to settle the Ukrainian conflict and Ukraine’s abandonment of Euro-Atlantic ambitions.

“Sarkozy noted that a military solution is impossible: it is now evident that, despite the tens of billions of dollars invested by the United States in Ukraine’s military capabilities, its counteroffensive is failing, so ultimately negotiations will be necessary if we want to avoid a catastrophe, which unfortunately, is still possible,” he noted, reminding of Russia’s nuclear potential.

Furthermore, Ferry concurs with Sarkozy that Ukraine serves as a bridge between Russia and Western Europe.

“In the eastern part of the country, there are many Russian-speaking communities sympathetic to Russia. The further west you go, the closer you get to Poland, and the more pro-American sentiments prevail. Due to its history, geography, and explosive cultural diversity, Ukraine’s destiny is not to join NATO and the EU. To claim otherwise means not only making false promises but also risking, as the civil war in Donbass has already shown, tearing Ukraine apart,” he pointed out.

Ferry believes that it is necessary for Kyiv to abandon attempts to reclaim Crimea by military means and proposes conducting another referendum there under EU supervision.

“As the philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin, an intellectual whose pro-Russian sentiments are hard to suspect, said, Crimea is 85% populated by Russians, so instead of trying to reclaim it by force at any cost, we will eventually, as Sarkozy suggests, have to organize free elections there under EU supervision,” he stated.

He also added, “Even if we imagine that Ukraine manages to regain control of Crimea and restore territorial integrity, it will not put an end to the conflict in Donbass, which has been raging since 2015 due to the non-fulfillment of the Minsk agreements.”

In mid-August, Sarkozy stated in an interview with Le Figaro that the return of Crimea under Kyiv’s control is illusory and Ukraine’s purpose is to be a bridge between Russia and Europe, rather than joining the European Union.