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Henry Kissinger is considered one of the most influential statesmen in post-war history (here on December 1 in Washington)

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Jacquelyn Martin / AP

Should Ukraine join NATO? Henry Kissinger warns against an overly hesitant attitude on the issue. In an interview with The Economist magazine, the former US Secretary of State said that the Europeans' attitude of not wanting Ukraine in NATO because of the too great risk posed by the Ukraine war, but equipping it with the most modern weapons, was "insanely dangerous".

"We should not end the war in the wrong way," said Kissinger, who is considered one of the most influential statesmen of the postwar period and was in office during the Cold War. Ukraine must remain protected by Europe after a war and not become a lonely state on its own.

"We have armed Ukraine so that it will be the most armed country with the least strategically experienced leadership in Europe." At the end of the war, in which Russia would lose many of its gains but hold Sevastopol, there would be a balance of discontent between Russia and Ukraine, Kissinger said.

For Kissinger, therefore, an end to the war is conceivable, in which Russia will leave Crimea. Sevastopol is the largest city on the peninsula, which has been annexed since 2014. At the beginning of the war, Ukraine had agreed to talk to Putin about the separatist areas in Donbas and the peninsula. However, that was before the Russian war crimes in Bucha. Bound corpses of civilians caused horror around the world in March 2022.

"For the security of Europe, it is better to have Ukraine in NATO. There, it cannot make national decisions on territorial claims," Kissinger told the magazine. But Russia would also benefit. "I would tell Putin that he, too, is safer when Ukraine is in NATO."

Kissinger warns of "classic pre-war situation" with China

Kissinger also commented on the situation with China in the interview. We are in a "classic pre-war situation," he said. Neither side leaves much room for political concessions. Any disturbance of the balance could have catastrophic consequences. "Both sides are convinced that the other side poses a strategic threat," Kissinger said. "We are on the way to a confrontation of great powers."

The U.S. and China are the two biggest threats to peace right now, Kissinger said. "In the sense that we have the ability to destroy humanity."

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