“Putin is not Hitler”: how Henry Kissinger saw the way out of the war in Ukraine

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who until his death remained one of the main experts on international politics, has died at the age of 100. The Agency collected statements from the former diplomat about the war between Russia and Ukraine: what he saw as the causes of the conflict, how he proposed to resolve it, and how the politician’s view changed over time.

Details . In May 2022, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kissinger called for negotiations to begin and an end to trying to inflict a “crushing defeat” on Russia, which he said would have disastrous consequences for stability in Europe. “Ideally, the dividing line should be a return to the pre-war [pre-February 24, 2022 - Agency] status quo,” he said. European leaders should not push Moscow towards a permanent alliance with China, because Russia has been an integral part of Europe and the guarantor of the balance of power for 400 years, the ex-diplomat emphasized. At the same time, Kissinger said then that the role of Ukraine is to be a neutral buffer state, and not the border of Europe.

• Later, in July 2022, Kissinger clarified that he did not say that Ukraine could give up its lands for the sake of peace. “I said that the best dividing line for a ceasefire is the pre-war status quo, that is, the war should not be transferred from territories that were Ukrainian when the war began to territories that at that time were part of Russia or were perceived as part of it ", he emphasized . He called the disputed territory a small part of Donbass and Crimea, which, in his opinion, has “importance for Russia that goes beyond the current crisis.”
• Reaction. The speech in Davos caused a harsh reaction in Ukraine. Vladimir Zelensky compared the speech with the appeasement policy of Nazi Germany.
• In December 2022, Kissinger published the article “How to Avoid Another World War.” In it, he wrote that he considered the opinion that the positive outcome of the war in Ukraine would be the weakening of Russia to be incorrect. Ukraine's neutrality no longer makes sense and the peace process must bind Kyiv to NATO, the former diplomat said, adding that the time is approaching to achieve peace in the negotiations. He explained this by the fact that Ukraine had already stymied the Russian armed forces, and the international community, including China, was against Russia’s use of nuclear weapons. If neither negotiations nor war will help Ukraine restore its pre-war borders, then referendums should be held in the disputed territories under international control on their status, Kissenger suggested.
• Reaction. Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov then commented on this: “Kissinger’s talent, experience and expertise are always in demand. They are especially in demand in such acute situations.” Advisor to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, wrote that this is a plan to “pacify the aggressor by sacrificing part of the territory of Ukraine.”
• In January 2023, during a speech via video link at a forum in Davos, Kissinger said that he had changed his mind that Ukraine should not join NATO. “The idea of ​​a neutral Ukraine in these conditions no longer makes sense,” he said. “I’m glad that Kissinger changed his mind,” responded to this. Vladimir Zelensky
• In May 2023, the ex-diplomat supported the actions of the Joe Biden administration in Ukraine. “From my point of view, the war in Ukraine has been won in the sense of excluding a Russian attack on allied countries in Europe. This is unlikely to happen again,” he said. At the same time, he emphasized that the proposal for Ukraine to join NATO was a big mistake and led to war. Kissenger said that he wanted the return of all territories except Crimea to Ukraine: the loss of the peninsula, he said, would lead to the risk of destroying the integrity of Russia, which is “undesirable” for the world after the war.
• Then, in May, he gave an interview to The Economist, in which he said that for security in Europe it is better for Ukraine to be in NATO, where it will not be able to act independently. “If I talked to Putin, I would say that he, too, is safer with Ukraine in NATO,” he said. In the same interview, he said that Putin should be perceived “as a character from Dostoevsky, and not as Hitler.” The Russian state agency RIA Novosti, citing this statement, cut out the mention of Hitler.
• In June 2023, in an interview with Bloomberg, Kissinger again characterized Putin, whom he called “a Dostoevsky-type figure, gripped by ambivalence and unrealistic aspirations.” He called Putin's retention of power despite defeat in Ukraine unlikely. However, Russian state news agencies did not notice these words in an interview with the politician.
• At the same time, Russian state agencies covered in detail ( 1 , 2 ) Kissinger’s conversation in July with pro-Kremlin pranksters “Vovan” and “Lexus”, in which he said (to Vladimir Zelensky, he thought) that he considered Kiev responsible for undermining the Nord Streams "