Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger considered that Washington is "at the edge of war" with Moscow and Beijing on the matters that the United States co-created.

"We are at the edge of war with Russia and China on issues which we partly created, without any concept of how this is going to end or what it is supposed to lead to," Kissinger told The Wall Street Journal.

Wondering whether the US could "manage the two adversaries by triangulating between them, as during the Nixon years," Kissinger explained that "You can’t just now say we’re going to split them off and turn them against each other."

"All you can do is not to accelerate the tensions and to create options, and for that you have to have some purpose," he added.

Regarding Ukraine, Kissinger thought that in the past it was best for it to act as a buffer between Russia and the West, "something like Finland." However, Russia's military operation in Ukraine changed his view, making him believe that "one way or the other, formally or not, Ukraine has to be treated in the aftermath of this as a member of NATO."

Kissinger pointed out that there is no choice but to take Russian President Vladimir Putin’s security concerns seriously, pointing out that it was a mistake for NATO to signal to Ukraine that it might eventually join the military alliance.

The former secretary of state also argued that Russia would retain Crimea and parts of Donbass as a result of a plausible settlement with Kiev.

It is noteworthy that a couple of weeks ago, Kissinger told the German public network ZDF that Ukrainian territory should not be abandoned, reversing what he said in May at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where he believed that Ukraine must give up some territory to Russia.

In his speech at the Davos Forum, Kissinger explained that Russia was an "essential part of Europe" for over four centuries, noting that European leaders must "not lose sight of the longer-term relationship" or otherwise risk putting Russia in a permanent alliance with China.

Moreover, he warned against prolonging the war in Ukraine, stressing the need for pushing Kiev to return to negotiations and for establishing a bridge between Russia and Europe.

Kissinger urged Western leaders to make Ukraine sit at the negotiating table with Russia, even if the negotiating terms are less than the goals it wants to get out of the war.