British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has proposed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to create a European alliance against Russia. Taking into account the position of certain EU countries, this alliance might become an alternative to Ukraine's accession to the EU.
This was reported by Corriere Della Sera.
According to the newspaper, Johnson is trying to confuse Brussels with a new system of political, economic and military alliances due to the ambiguous position of some countries on the prospect of Ukraine's membership of the European Union. It is assumed that countries dissatisfied with the EU position and Germany's response to Russia's military aggression might join the new alliance.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, Johnson has been promoting the idea for more than a month. He first presented it to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his visit to Kyiv on 9 April.
The publication writes that the proposed model of the European Commonwealth would include Great Britain as the leader of the organization and such countries as Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and, possibly, Turkey at a later stage.
As of today, Kiev has not taken a definite position on this initiative. But the Ukrainian elite has made sure that few in Germany and France hope for Vladimir Putin's defeat, which is the reason for the delay in sanctions against Russia and arms deliveries.
Corriere Della Sera writes that Zelensky is waiting for the summit of European Union leaders on June 23 and their decision on the candidate status for EU membership. However, it is not certain that the decision of this summit will be the one Ukraine is hoping for. Because it could cause protests from Albania and Northern Macedonia, which have been waiting years for candidate status.
According to another hypothesis, the European Union will limit itself to a vague statement about Kiev's European perspective. In this case, Zelenski may take Johnson's proposal more seriously.
Nevertheless, it is possible that rumors of a new European Commonwealth are being thrown in to put pressure on European leaders ahead of the June decisions. Corriere Della Sera believes that the London project is a colossus on clay feet, as it does not have the same financial capabilities to support Ukraine as the European Union does.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron put forward a project of "a European political community" as an alternative to European integration for Ukraine. At the same time, he specified that his proposal was not an alternative to joining the EU.
As for possible alternatives to EU accession, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he was not interested in compromises between Europe and Russia.
