Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Latvia, Legislation, Ukraine

''If we are speaking about halting the war, I completely agree that diplomacy is important, but not enough in the current circumstances,'' Yuschenko pointed out, adding that the saying ''there is no alternative to diplomacy'' is allowing oneself to succumb to illusions.

''Diplomacy will not help when you are sitting together with an enemy, which has no motivation for peace. Thus, we can conclude that diplomacy is important, but not enough in the current situation. We have to look in a wider geo-political context,'' the former Ukrainian president emphasized.

Asked whether the West is doing too little to help Ukraine, Yuschenko said that the U.S. and other countries in ''the nuclear weapons club'', have signed an international document guaranteeing Ukraine's territorial unity, but now when ''this insurance should be paid out'', there is no action from any of the signatories.

''My friend, the situation has arisen that this insurance must be paid out – we have lost our territorial unity. Why is your place at the discussion table empty? Why is the granite chair empty? All we have are observers – Germany, France, Russia....and the only interested side of getting this matter solved is Ukraine. Where are the rest? Who is the occupant? Who is the aggressor? Why are they not staying in their place?,'' Yuschenko asked.

He pointed out that both the Normandy and Minsk formats, even though Ukraine has put much hope into them, are ineffective, and ''we must somehow get our of this diplomatic furnace''.

Yuschenko also pointed out that Ukraine has lost 6,000 persons within a year, and that it is in a war which is being generously being sponsored by Russia. ''Most European countries do not have such an army. In other words, this is a challenge which countries like Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia nor most any other country would be able to deal all by themselves. Diplomacy is a good thing, but it has not led to any positive results. This shows that these formats should not be closed completely, but we must evaluate other options as well,'' the former Ukrainian president said.

Asked what these other possibilities might be, he answered: ''First of all, participating in these discussions must be the countries which signed this documents, guaranteeing Ukraine's security. The second is the military component. We need military support. Not for the expansion of the conflict, but for our own defense, so that we could regain control of the situation,'' Yuschenko emphasized.