Sebastian Schäffer for Asharq News on the upcoming negotiations over Russia’s war against Ukraine

In a discussion on Asharq News, IDM Director Sebastian Schäffer warns that legitimising border shifts by force threatens the post-WWII security architecture. Schäffer dismisses US claims that Ukraine has lost the war and criticises the Trump administration for prioritising talks with the aggressor over the victim.

He points out that what is missing in the debate is the fact that Ukraine is also in control of Russian territory (Kursk) and wonders why this is not mentioned in the potential “deal.” Schäffer stresses that Russia’s annexations are not recognized under international law and that any agreement with the regime in Moscow, without substantial security guarantees, is not worth the ink on the paper it is written on, as the Budapest Memorandum has shown.

Watch the discussion (in Arabic) here.