"Deep distrust between West and Russia"

"Deep distrust between West and Russia"

BELGRADE -- There is deep distrust between the West and Russia and it will not disappear quickly, a panel discussion in Belgrade has heard.

Participants in the gathering, organized by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), also said that the responsibility for the current situation in Ukraine lies on "both sides."

"Nothing is the same as two decades ago, when the Soviet Union collapsed. The West has in the last twenty years underestimated vital interests of Russia, and this got pushed to the forefront with the Ukrainian crisis," said the president of the French Institute for International Relations, Thierry de Montbrial.

"We all bear some responsibility for what is happening in Ukraine today. However, it must be stressed that the country has historically been a very sensitive issue for Russia, and the West underestimated that. Moscow will not easily give up on its own interests and I do not expect trust between the two sides to be established soon. I'm afraid northern Kazakhstan could be a new conflict spot," Montbrial said during the discussion late on Thursday.

Faculty of Philosophy professor and former foreign policy adviser to the Serbian president Leon Kojen also took part and said that two conditionswere necessary to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.

"It is necessary to introduce some form of decentralization of the country, which would mean considerable autonomy for eastern Ukraine. It does not have to be federalization. I think the second part of the deal could be an agreement between Moscow and Kiev for Ukraine to, for example, veto its membership in NATO for the next ten years," said Kojen.

The CIRSD panel also presented a...