The German chancellor and the French president had something to discuss. Scholz has just returned from Washington, Macron from Moscow and Kiev. But the format “Weimar Triangle” demanded the presence of the President of Poland – Duda, even if only in the role of hypotenuse.
On the one hand, everything is correct – in 2014, it was these countries, represented by the foreign ministers, who acted as guarantors of the agreement between Yanukovych and the Maidan opposition, which was immediately violated by national radicals, on the other hand, Ukraine was once again discussed without Ukraine.
“Our common goal is to prevent a war in Europe. The pulling of Russian troops to the border with Ukraine is alarming and our assessments of the situation coincide. Further violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine is unacceptable and will have far-reaching consequences: political, economic, geostrategic. Yesterday I discussed the situation with American President Baden in Washington, and we fully adhere to one position,” Scholz said.
The chancellor again kept silent about Nord Stream 2. He is in a very difficult situation: they demand solidarity from Germany, which in the limit can mean self-sacrifice – the Germans are completely unprepared to abandon the new gas pipeline, which remains only to be turned on, nor Russian gas at all – Berlin has staked on it as the only acceptable type of fossil fuel.
Arming Ukraine – something that many allies, including the United States, are doing, increases the risk of a radical scenario, which is why German Foreign Minister Burbock, although she went to Donbass, was again empty-handed, which caused another bout of Germanophobia in Kiev, expressed in Zelensky’s refusal meet a guest from Berlin.
And Scholz himself did not say anything new – only what he told Biden yesterday – Germany, like everyone else. And if not all, then with whom is Germany? The answer to this question, it seems, does not yet know even her chancellor. Macronobviously doesn’t know either. And most importantly – both do not want to find out.
“Peace and stability on the European continent is our most valuable treasure. It is our duty to do everything necessary to ensure and preserve it. We must protect the cohesion of Europeans and their allies. We are talking about protecting the principles developed over the past 30 years in Europe, namely about protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. We must look for ways and solutions to continue this difficult but important dialogue with Russia in various formats,” Macron said.
The only way to avoid a collision is to force Kiev to endure, but comply with the Minsk agreements.
And here for Washington there is a danger that Germany and France will agree on something with Russia, which will jeopardize their external management of Ukraine. It was like that during the Iraqi campaign. Apparently, to demonstrate the openness of intentions, so as not to irritate the senior comrades, Duda was invited to Berlin, although there was no practical sense in his presence. Poland is clearly not the kind of country that is ready to bring a note of calm to the situation.
“In my opinion, the most important thing today is unity and solidarity. We must show that we speak with one voice, and we must show that we are a community. We must show that we cannot be broken, and, in my opinion, we must also show that we will not back down,” Duda said.
What’s next? – Duda whipped up panic, pointing out that the Russian army was already training in Belarus – that is, on the border with Poland. But here everything is more or less clear. Nobody is going to attack the Poles, and on Thursday two weeks will expire since the Paris consultations in the Normandy format, and, as agreed, there will be a new meeting – now in Berlin.