MUNICH
Yatsenyuk says peace talks will fail without EU involvement in crafting joint plan.
U.S. President Donald Trump's talk of bringing Russia back into the Group of Seven amid negotiations toward ending Moscow's war in Ukraine is "completely unacceptable," former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says.
Speaking with Nikkei on Sunday at the Munich Security Conference, Yatsenyuk urged Japan and other members of the G7 not to allow Russia to return or "even to hold these kind of talks," asserting that the group's members should share values of freedom and democracy.
Yatsenyuk also warned that negotiations involving only the U.S. and Russia would fail.
"We can have some kind of talks, but it's going to be a cheap talk, a kind of hot air," he said. "So we urgently need to craft a joint plan, joint negotiating position, and only afterwards, after we are to be on the same page with Americans and the European Union, we can handle these kind of talks with Russia."
These remarks came after Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special presidential envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said Saturday that he does not think Europe will be directly at the table for talks with Russia.
Yatsenyuk argued that European countries should spend more on their military and build up their military-industrial complex to bolster deterrence and defense against Russia.
"The stronger Europe is, the better relations between Europe and the United States will be, and the less chances [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and other pariahs in this world will have to prevail," he said.
In a speech Saturday at the Munich conference, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of an independent "army of Europe" to defend European territory against Russia.
Yatsenyuk said Zelenskyy "delivered the right messages" in terms of Europe taking responsibility for regional security, but stressed that this should not supplant NATO.
Yatsenyuk, a major player on the pro-Western side of Ukrainian politics, was prime minister when Russia annexed Crimea. He also has served as minister of foreign affairs and the economy, implementing economic reforms with support from the International Monetary Fund.