A full-scale Russian war against Ukraine was inevitable, and without resistance in 2014, the country would have faced a scenario similar to that of Belarus. This was emphasised by the Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2014 to 2016, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
“War was inevitable. In 2021, I was one of the few who said that Russian troops hadn’t come on a sightseeing trip – there would be a major war,” he recalled.
Yatsenyuk emphasised that the government in 2014 carried out a historic mission by preventing Putin from seizing Ukraine. “The war did not begin in 2022 – it began in 2014. We did not allow Ukraine to be split apart, but did everything we could to ensure the country had its own Armed Forces and was able to fight against full-scale aggression in 2022. The Belarus scenario was awaiting us,” the former prime minister noted.
According to Yatsenyuk, in 2022 the Ukrainian people defended their state, having realised its value. “This struggle is a long-term one – to preserve the state, win the war, rebuild Ukraine and give new impetus to the nation and its future,” concluded the KSF Chairman.