Euronews “Good Morning Europe” (May 5, 2021)

GMF’s Michal Baranowski joined Euronews’ “Good Morning Europe” to discuss U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the Ukraine. When asked if this trip, which is meant to show support to Kyiv, would deter further aggression from Moscow, Baranowski noted that so far, Western support of Ukraine in the past two weeks seems to be working. But he added that it is not over yet, as the Russian troops that pulled back left their equipment. It would be easy for them to come back and threaten Ukraine just as they did over a month ago.

Speaking to EU accession and NATO membership for Ukraine, Baranowski stated that “unfortunately, it is quite unlikely that we will see any of that kind of breakthroughs” until the conflict in the Donbass is resolved. But with the new Biden administration, there could be another round of negotiations on the status of Donbass, and Ukraine sovereignty could be supported, not only by the Europeans as it has been under the Normandy format, but also by the United States.

Turning to Ukrainian domestic policy and Washington’s call for the country’s need to get its own house in order when it comes to reforms and corruption, Baranowski stated that this is indeed a serious problem that has been going on for many years. He stressed that President Zelensky made progress in this area, which is important for Ukrainian society and the international community. However, he also noted that the U.S. is going to send a message of “tough love” to Ukraine to continue with these efforts—and to speed them up.