Pompeo: If you give away Ukrainian territory, you can immediately invite Xi to seize Taiwan

The Russian dictator's reward. Vladimir Putin territorial gains will send a signal to every dictator around the world that violence is justified. This is the opinion... expressed former Secretary of State of the United States Mike Pompeo in a column for the Financial Times.

The former US Secretary of State noted that achieving peace in Ukraine requires difficult compromises, but territorial issues are a "red line".

"Ukraine should never be forced to recognize Russia's claims to territory that Moscow has illegally seized and occupied. Such recognition would legitimize Russia's position and give it a huge military and propaganda victory," Pompeo said.

He noted that if concessions were made to Putin on territorial issues, Russia's neighbors in the Baltic countries and other former Soviet republics, such as Moldova, would have serious reason to fear that they might be next on the Kremlin's list.

"If America supports Russia's seizure of land, we might as well send Xi Jinping an engraved invitation for China to seize Taiwan," Pompeo wrote.

He added that if the US were to lead negotiations that result in Putin's victory, America would not end the Russian-Ukrainian war, but guarantee the next one.

• August 20, Zelenskyy stated / said / announced, arguing that, in his opinion, Putin knows that Ukraine will not agree to withdraw its troops from Donbas, but is deliberately demanding it because he does not want peace.