Russia must go through what Germans did on May 8-9, 1945 - Deputy FM

Such an opinion was expressed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrij Melnyk, on the air of the national telethon, Ukrinform reports.

As the diplomat noted, the Ukrainian Peace Formula is the first step toward molding a post-war world order. But we also need to think about how to formulate what our victory is and how we want to see Russia, he said.

"Our Western partners say: you advance to the borders (as of 1991 - ed.), which is realistic. No one there rejects this and no one denies that it is within the power of our Armed Forces. But what’s next? My answer is simple: Russia must go through what the Germans did on May 8-9, 1945. This is not only about capitulation, complete and unconditional surrender without any negotiations... No one negotiated with Hitler, although he tried to do so... But what happened next? Germany was occupied by the Allies, and there was a so-called de-Nazification process – that’s what the Russians intended to introduce here," said Melnyk.

He noted that "Russia is unlikely to be occupied by us – at least now this option is still not a priority." According to the senior diplomat, the main question is how to make society in Russia, which started this war, "stop thinking aggressively and wanting to physically destroy their neighbor."

"There is no answer to this, and we will not answer ourselves, because the question is too fundamental. Here we need to reflect with our partners - Americans, Germans, and Britons, how to make a new big war, its repetition impossible, perhaps in an even more brutal dimension than we see now. And these are the issues that really concern us," the deputy minister emphasized.

As reported, last November, President Volodymyr Zelensky put forward the Ukrainian Peace Formula. In particular, it is about radiation, nuclear, food, abd energy security, the release of all prisoners and deportees, implementation of the UN Charter and restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the world order, withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, return of justice, countering ecocide, preventing escalation, and fixating the end of war.

The head of state also initiated the convening of the Formula Peace Global Summit this winter.