After the annexation of Crimea, the sanctions against Russia “were not up to the task”, says Hollande

UKRAINE – The Kyiv Independent presents the interview published this Wednesday, December 28 as “ exclusive “. Francois Hollande granted, on December 16 in Paris, an interview to the Ukrainian daily in which he returns to the attitude of the Russia when he was in office from 2012 to 2017 and delivers his analysis of the war in Ukraine.

The former French president remembers a Vladimir Putin provocative and aggressive upon his return to the Kremlin in 2012, which dreamed of a recreation of the Soviet Union”. After the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of the Donbass war two years later, François Hollande tried with Angela Merkel to push the Russian president to negotiate peace: “ We brought him to accept the Normandy format [une rencontre diplomatique entre les oblasts de Donetsk et de Lougansk, l’Ukraine, l’Allemagne, la France et la Russie] then we went to Minsk for the negotiations. »

For him, the Minsk agreements are not a failure

“The Minsk Accords temporarily halted the Russian offensive “, he says. These agreements provide for a ceasefire as well as measures to achieve peace, such as the withdrawal of heavy weapons or the holding of elections in the self-proclaimed people’s republics.

Many observers, however, qualify them as a diplomatic failure since, in fact, most of their provisions have never been applied. An analysis refuted by the former head of state. According to him, these agreements allowed, at the time, to delay the Russian advances in Ukraine and thus to grant time to prepare for the war, in “strengthening its military posture”.

“ Putin therefore believed that time had worked in his favor and that he could cross the threshold by further invading Ukraine, hence the aggression he committed. That’s where he went wrong “, considers Hollande. “The best example is clearly visible on the battlefield. His army is much less impressive than he had imagined, and the Ukrainian resistance much more resounding than he had estimated. »

However, the former president recognizes the weakness of the reaction of the international community during the annexation of Crimea: “ One thing is certain, the sanctions were not commensurate with the seriousness of the violation of international law. He explains it by the disinterest of the United States and the division of the countries of the European Union on the question. “Other leaders, including myself, wanted the sanctions to be maximum”he assures.

Macron tackle

Asked about his successor’s desire to play mediators, François Hollande criticizes Emmanuel Macron in half-words: ” For a dialogue to be fruitful, it must be based on a balance of power. I can speak from experiencehe argues. Dialogue for dialogue’s sake is meaningless and may even have negative consequences by suggesting that responsibilities are shared and providing a convenient communication framework for Putin. »

François Hollande also delivers a rather pessimistic view of the end of the war: “ There will be no way out of the conflict until, on the ground, Russia has seen the failure of its murderous enterprise. “And to plead for a” lasting and guaranteed solution for Ukraine when negotiations take place.

François Hollande also salutes the ” unifying role ” of Volodymyr Zelensky who ” also plays an important role. “His ability to seduce the whole world and to mobilize the Ukrainian nation will be at the heart of the outcome of the war and the respect of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, without forgetting the question of Crimea which, at some point or to another, will return to be part of the negotiations he concludes.

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