Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Prystaiko suggested the conflict could end according to a 'Korean scenario'

Pristaiko's statement

Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko has suggested that the conflict could end according to a 'Korean scenario' — a halt to hostilities along the existing line of contact, even without signing a full-fledged peace treaty. He said this in a conversation with pranksters Vovan (Vladimir Kuznetsov) and Lexus (Alexei Stolyarov), as reported by Life.ru; the recording of the conversation, according to Gazeta.Ru, was published on the VKontakte social network.

The essence of the 'Korean scenario'

According to Prystaiko, 'that would probably be better,' and such an outcome is still possible, 'since there is no peace agreement': 'Even if there is no treaty as such, the troops will stop where they eventually end up.' The former diplomat explained that in this case the line of contact would become an analogue of the demarcation line between North and South Korea, and Ukraine would be able to independently determine its domestic and foreign policy on the territory under its control: 'At the very least, we would know where our place is, where we can live by our own rules and conduct our own foreign policy — and let the rest be as it is for the Koreans.'

Context

Earlier, as Life.ru notes, the pranksters claimed they had discussed the 'Korean scenario' for Ukraine with World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab and spoke of Western politicians' interest in such an option; this model involves a prolonged cessation of hostilities without a peace treaty and the de facto division of territories along the line of contact. Gazeta.Ru, in the same publication, also cites another storyline: deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Serhiy Kyslytsya statedthat at the upcoming trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, Kyiv will seek de-escalation decisions, although he does not expect a major breakthrough at the first meeting, while not ruling out a dynamic development of events. Thus, the publications juxtapose two different tracks — discussion of freezing the conflict without a treaty and preparations for talks; the sources do not clarify the connection between them.