Ukrainian billionaire oligarch Victor Pinchuk hit back at critics of his views on the future of Crimea and the Donbas in an op-ed titled “No title” on news website Ukrainska Pravda on Jan. 13.
In a Dec. 29 article, “Ukraine must make painful compromises for peace with Russia,” published in the Wall Street Journal, Pinchuk argued that Ukraine should not seek European Union membership at this time or its claim to Crimea as part of a broad deal to end Russia’s war against the Donbas.
Pinchuk’s proposal sparked anger among some pro-European Ukrainians, who accused him of pushing his business interests in building ties with Russia and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Pinchuk then wrote another article, in Russian, for the Ukrainian publication. He began by saying that the Wall Street Journal significantly shortened his original text and changed the headline from “New strategy for Ukraine in a changing world: Contribution for the sake of peace and protection of our freedom.”
He said his opinion had been interpreted inaccurately, since most of the compromises that he wrote about were addressed to Ukraine’s partners in the West.
In particular, he said Ukraine should adapt to the current systemic crisis in the E.U. and consider a temporary renunciation of claims for E.U. membership as a short-term goal. Instead of insisting on E.U. membership, Ukraine should strive for concrete support from the E.U. in the form of financial aid, visa-free regime, adherence to pro-Ukrainian position in peace talks, and prolongation of economic sanctions against Russia, Pinchuk said.
Speaking about Crimea, Pinchuk said that he had never suggested trading it for peace with Russia in the Donbas, and would always insist that Crimea was Ukrainian. However, neither Ukrainian nor Western politicians are able to suggest any realistic solution to the crisis with the peninsula, as it’s not included on the agenda of Minsk 2 peace agreements or the Normandy format talks on Ukraine, he said.
“Ukraine has been suffering from war. Crimea and the Donbas are occupied. These are two different parts of one huge problem, and the solution of one shouldn’t hinder the solution of the other,” Pinchuk wrote.
