Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmitry Kuleba commented in an interview with the founder of the online publication “GORDON” Dmitry Gordon, which was published on June 1, the ideas of a possible expansion of Ukrainian territorial claims in the event of victory in the war against the aggressor country of the Russian Federation, in particular the scenarios with the Kuban, Belgorod and Bryansk regions and access to the Caspian Sea, questioning their feasibility.
Gordon recalled a conversation with a representative of the top leadership of Ukraine, who suggested that after Russia’s potential withdrawal from Donbass and Crimea, Ukraine could also “return” the territories that were part of the Ukrainian space in 1919, in particular Kuban, parts of the Belgorod and Bryansk regions, and also theoretically reach the Caspian Sea.
Kuleba reacted critically to such scenarios, questioning their appropriateness. “You know how my teenage children say: “So what?” That is, there are different management strategies. The simplest, most beautiful picture is a yellow-blue flag over the Kremlin. Or if we want to go to the Caspian Sea, then where there, in Dagestan? But so what?” – asked the ex-minister.
According to him, holding captured territories can be much more difficult and resource-intensive than conquering them, especially in conditions of a long war.
He also noted that an alternative strategy may not be expansion of territories, but “elimination of threats by fragmenting the opponent and controlling him.”
