Tymoshenko calls for new peace and security strategy with Russia

Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister and
political prisoner, declared at an Oct. 30 campaign event the need to reform
the nation’s strategy in achieving peace and security amid Russian aggression.
She called for “a serious reworking” of the president’s military doctrine,
particularly its goal of “full conformity” of the Ukrainian military with NATO
standards. “That’s a utopia,” she told her supporters, as reported by the
pravda.com.ua news site. “Our team has begun to create real strategic doctrines
and legislation that will ensure their implementation on a strict schedule and
which will be absolutely adequate to deal with all global challenges.”

Tymoshenko called for the creation of a “military
cabinet” to carry out this work and to develop a peace strategy in detail. This
cabinet is also supposed to develop Ukraine’s global strategy, she said. The
events in Donbas were a stress test for international institutions like the
United Nations and OSCE, which she said failed to secure peace in Ukraine, the
pravda.com.ua news site reported. Tymoshenko also called for international
peace talks in what she called a new Budapest-Plus format, which will involve
not only the participants in the 1994 Budapest memorandum (Ukraine, Russia, the
U.S., the U.K.), but also representatives from France, China, Germany and the
EU high representative for foreign affairs and security.

Zenon Zawada: It’s
apparent to us, as well as Tymoshenko’s advisors, that the most likely
presidential election scenario involves her facing off against Poroshenko in a
second-round runoff vote in April. She can’t defeat Poroshenko by trying to
outdo him among the “patriot electorate.” So with this latest announced “peace
and security” strategy (and especially her NATO comments), Tymoshenko is
already orienting herself towards southeastern voters, who are more
Russian-oriented and interested in peace, despite the possible costs.

So while Poroshenko’s campaign slogan has been,
“Army, Language, Faith,” Tymoshenko’s slogan will be “Peace and Security,” as
well as economic themes, for which she is already recognized. For her strategy
to succeed, Tymoshenko must be able to bend enough to attract enough of the
southeastern electorate, without alienating her core base, which is pro-Western
Ukrainians in the nation’s western and central regions.