Surrendering Ukrainian interests will result in fatal mistake, journalist Portnikov believes

In an interview with Espreso, Portnikov commented on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939 between the USSR and Germany. Later, Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov explained the pact by stating that military negotiations with France and England had stalled due to misunderstandings and disagreements.

Portnikov responded to a question from the journalist about whether he thought a non-aggression pact would now be signed between the isolationists of the new Trump administration, the Chinese, and the Russians.

"Maybe there won't be any pact at all. I repeat, the mere fact of surrendering Ukraine's interests will be a sign of weakness, and someone will inevitably make a mistake. The mistake will be fatal. It’s simply inevitable, it’s the ABCs of world diplomacy, and no one will acknowledge any mistakes until the end of their life," he said.

Portnikov recalled that during his student years, he met Molotov and asked him whether he regretted signing the non-aggression pact with Germany.

"And Vyacheslav Mikhailovich looked at me and said, 'It was the only possible solution' – and walked away. So, he was absolutely certain about the correctness of his approach until the last days of his life. I think Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov, if he lives to the age of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich, will also think that everything was done correctly. And I don’t know what Mark Rubio will think."

"In any case, we need to clearly understand one simple thing: if we go back to this situation of appeasement, with or without a pact, with or without a Trump-Putin-Xi Jinping meeting for that, a new world war is inevitable. And we simply have to accept it. It won’t even be about Ukraine," said the journalist.

He also believes that there might be a conditional territory balancing between the US and Russia, "but no one will care about it, just as no one cared about the protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia during World War II. What happened there? Almost nothing. Czechoslovakia lost Slovakia, which became a puppet state, and Subcarpathian Rus, which was occupied by Hungary."

"The cities of the countries that tried to negotiate with the aggressor in 1938 or 1939 were destroyed. The cities of Great Britain were destroyed, to some extent France, but France quickly capitulated, the Soviet Union, and Germany."

"Ultimately, we will see the ruins of American, Russian, and possibly Chinese cities and towns. We will see millions of bodies of those who voted for the politicians who believed in appeasing the aggressor. That is what we will see. What will happen in Ukraine in this situation – I cannot predict. Because I know: the country where everything begins always ends up on the periphery of the conflict. And we will be able to talk in the studio about the consequences of a nuclear strike on Washington and Moscow," continued Portnikov.

In the opinion of the publicist, this scenario is real. Meanwhile, Europe or the conditional Asia-Pacific region may become the central focus of world politics.

"And most likely, that will happen. And I can imagine this world very well. And this world is incredibly interesting to me because I’m curious how we will live after World War III in a world where both the United States, Russia, and China, possibly, will be licking their wounds and will forever remain on the periphery of world politics. Then, Europe may be at the forefront, then the conditional Asia-Pacific region with Australia and New Zealand – those who survive," he concluded.