After more than a month since the start of the war in Ukraine, it is clear that Russia's plan to seize the country's major cities and change Government has failed. Following several rounds of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations, the parties have not yet been able to reach an agreement.

What demands does official Kyiv have on security guarantees, to what extent does Russia have the ability to continue the war in the long run, and how do they react to the decisions of the Georgian authorities in Ukraine - InterPressNews discussed these and other issues in an exclusive interview with Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada.

First of all, thank you for finding time for the interview. I would like to express solidarity with Ukrainian people on behalf of our company and Georgian people. We are sure that Ukraine will win this war.

Didi madloba, thank you.

During the last weeks, several rounds of negotiations were held between Ukraine and Russia. Currently, the number one question is when the war can be ended? Do you see any signs that Ukaine and Russia might arrive soon to the ceasefire agreement?

Unfortunately, I am not optimistic about these negotiations. We see that Russians are continuing the war, they are shelling, bombing our cities. It does not look like they really want peace. That is why I am not optimistic. But we need to try our best, because we want peace as soon as possible. However, we are not going to surrender. In any case, we are continuing fighting.

More than 5 weeks have passed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. After 5 weeks, Russia's rhetoric seems to be softening and becoming more compromising, although the Ukrainian President says, and Western leaders agree, that it is hard to believe the words of Russia and that Moscow can only be expected to back down through action. Do you think Russia is really exhausted and it is actually retreating, or is it their tactic? How much do you think Russia has the ability to continue war in the long term perspective?

Given the events of the last days, the key thing we can say is that Russia lost battle for Kyiv and that is a complete failure of their plans. Because there was a primary objective to take Kyiv, but now they realize that it is absolutely impossible for them. They cannot do it. During the first days they tried to take Kyiv, but since we started our counterattacks they are just retreating from Kyiv region. And we can say that they lost this battle. That was a strategic battle for Kyiv. So we can say that they are partly exhausted. I think that they will try now to achieve other goals - attacking probably in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine. But in any case, their rhetoric is softening. Their propagandists are still making propaganda. Their army is still shelling and bombing our cities. Their aviation is still bombing, there are missile attacks, and civilians are killed. They are just destroying our cities like Mariupol, Kharkiv, Chernihiv. I was in Irpin recently, which is close to Kyiv, it was liberated just days ago. I can tell you it is almost destroyed. It is awful what they did to this very beautiful small town. So they are continuing this war. But yes now they understood that they were underestimating us, underestimating Ukraine and now they are probably looking for what they can achieve in Ukraine, but they are not going to stop for the moment.

I want to ask you about security guarantees, Ukraine's request is to have a clear security guarantee similar to Article 5 of NATO. What does the current dynamics of the ongoing negotiations with Russia and the Western countries on the other hand show? How realistic is it for Russia, on the one hand, to sign a document stating that in case of an attack on Ukraine, it would be militarily opposed by countries such as the US, the UK, Turkey, Poland, Israel, France, Germany, and on the other hand, these countries themselves to consent to defend Ukraine by military force if its territorial integrity is threatened?

First of all, I want to tell you again that I am not very optimistic about the negotiations at all. I do not think this will happen in that way. But this is clear, Ukraine needs security guarantees, because the war against Ukraine is in progress for more than 8 years already. Certainly, we want to stop it. We need security guarantees for the future. Unfortunately, we have a very bad experience of Budapest Memorandum, when in 1994 Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapon arsenal, which was third biggest in the world for that moment, with guarantees from Russia, United Kingdom and United States. Now the whole world sees that these guarantees were absolutely nothing. Speaking about the idea, the idea is that NATO for us is an instrument of securing our security, because in NATO, there is United States, there is Article 5, according to which an attack on each country of NATO is an attack on all NATO Alliance. So we want something like this - a ratified agreement first of all with the United States, which will clearly say that an attack on Ukraine is an attack on United States. That is all. Guarantees from Russia is nothing. Russia is an aggressor which is lying all the time. It is an empire of evil. We do not need Russia as a guarantor. We need guarantees for the United States. In this case, this will be instead of NATO, because we want to find a solution.

I would like to ask you about Ukraine-Georgia relations and the recalling of the Ambassador from Georgia. On March 1, when the Ukrainian President firstly announced the recall of the Ambassador for consultations, he named the "immoral position of the Georgian Government on sanctions" as the main reason, and two days ago, when announcing the final decision, he no longer mentioned the Georgian Government and expressed dissatisfaction with the Ambassador's work. Can you tell us more specifically why the Ambassador of Ukraine was recalled from Georgia so that the reasons would be clear for the Georgian society...

First of all, it was the decision of the President and he can comment on it. What I can tell you is that we are unhappy with the position of the Georgian Government. Georgian Government has not joined sanctions against Russian Federation and it is very strange. Georgia is also suffering from Russian federation. 20% of Georgian territories are occupied by Russia and we cannot understand why the Georgian Government does not want to join the sanctions. Quite opposite, it is even expanding the trade with Russia. Speaking about Georgian volunteers who are now fighting for Ukraine, we are very thankful for every man and woman who are fighting for Ukraine from other countries. Since the war started there were a number of Georgians who wanted to join the Ukrainian army to fight, but Georgian Government was not helping them at all. So probably that is a sign for the President of Ukraine to show that we are very much dissatisfied with the level of relationships between our countries at this moment and with the position of Georgian Government in this situation.

Ukraine has not recalled the Ambassador from Belarus, from where Russian missiles are firing on Ukrainian territory, and has not made such a decision regarding Hungary, which is also opposed to imposing bilateral sanctions on Russia. Georgia may refuse to impose bilateral sanctions on Russia, but Georgia has openly expressed political support for Ukraine in a number of international organizations, and Georgia is one of those who have appealed to the Hague Tribunal to launch an investigation against Russia. In this situation, the Georgian authorities and their supporters have a question as to why the President of Ukraine has such a position towards Georgia. What is your answer to this question?

First of all, I'm not the President of Ukraine and I'm not his press secretary or office representative. I'm a member of Parliament and, by the way, I'm a member of the Parliament from opposition party. It's another story that during the war there is no opposition. There couldn't be opposition. So we are all fighting for Ukraine and after the victory, we will discuss all disagreements and political agenda - but not today. I can't comment on the decisions of President. Remembering 2008, when Russian tanks were approaching Tbilisi, Ukrainian President came to Georgia to stand shoulder to shoulder with Georgian Government of that time and with Georgian people. Now we see completely different approach to what's happening in Ukraine from Georgian Government. I think it's not good from all points of view: moral, strategic and so on and so on. Ukraine has special relationships with Georgia. We are prime members of GUAM: Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova. There is an Associated Trio with Moldova and Georgia. So we considered our relationships very fruitful and very important for both countries. At the moment, when we need the help the most, this position of Georgian Government, which we considered to be our closest friend, is something that really makes us very much unhappy. So maybe that is the reason for President, maybe he has another reason, I don't know. But I told you what I think about this situation.

Georgia itself is a country occupied by Russia. The Russian army has been standing on our territory for so many years and the Ukrainian authorities are well aware of the security situation in Georgia. The question is how much our country has the ability to resist Russia in the same way that Ukraine is doing. With all this in mind, the question arises as to how Georgia objectively can do more for Ukraine than provide humanitarian assistance and political support to international organizations.

I'm not going to say what Georgia should do, that is not up to me. I'm not a citizen of Georgia. I love Georgia. I love Georgian people. I'm extremely interested in Georgian history and culture. I have many Georgian friends, but that's not for me to decide. It's Georgian people who should decide what to do. And I'm not telling you that you need to start a war, or to stop the war, or what to do.

It's a decision for Georgian. The only thing I can say is that when Russia started invasion against Ukraine everybody were sure that we would have only 96 hours and after this we would fail. As you see now, after more than one month of fighting, that we are still fighting. The battle for Kyiv is won by Ukraine. We are counterattacking enemies. So I think the spirit of society, the spirit of the nation is important. Not only the calculation as to how many tanks one or the other side has. It's not just mathematics. War isn't just mathematics. There is much more inside. A lot of factors. So I don't calculate in a way that since Georgia is much smaller than Russia, it shouldn't do anything against it.

It's not the way I think, and watching at the absolutely aggressive position of South Ossetia, where this self-proclaimed president is saying that - 'we are going to come to Russia, that is our homeland' - I don't know, I think it's something which cannot be tolerated by Georgian nation.

I would also like to ask you a question about the statement made by the Secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine a few days ago. Oleksiy Danilov made the following statement: “If Transnistria and Georgia engage in returning their territories today - moreover, Poland has not yet formally voiced claims regarding the Kaliningrad region - it will definitely help us, because the Russians will have something else to do apart from destroying our cities and villages, killing our children and women”. Danilov's statement was criticized not only by the Georgian Government, but also by the opposition and experts. Moreover, Danilov's statement was perceived as if Ukraine was calling for the opening of a second front line in Georgia. What can you say about this statement? Was it an emotional statement by the Secretary of the Security Council of Ukraine, or we should really need to understand it as a call to open new front lines?

These are not my words, these are the words of Secretary of Security Council. You can ask him, or you can ask press officers of the Security Council of Ukraine for comments about this. My position is absolutely clear. Russian fFderation occupied twenty percent of Georgian territory. For me, it is a crime. I think that it is an absolute violation of Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is up to you as to what to do with this.

Thank you so much, that was my final question. Once again, I wish the best of luck to Ukrainian people. Ukraine will win this war. Glory to Ukraine!

Glory to heroes! საქართველოს გაუმარჯოს. დიდი მალდობა, ნახვამდის [Glory to Georgia, thank you very much and goodbye].

Beka Beriashvili

InterPressNews