Immediately after the talks between the leaders of Russia and Germany, the situation around Ukraine Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden discussed over the phone. The parties again touched upon the topic of sanctions against Russia, but nevertheless expressed the hope that a military confrontation could be avoided. It was about this – about the diplomatic resolution of the conflict – that they talked the day before. Vladimir Putin and Olaf Scholz. And for this, according to the President of Russia, the West must first of all comply with all existing agreements.
“We have been told for 30 years that there will be no NATO expansion even for a single day towards the Russian borders, and today we see NATO infrastructure right at our house. Moreover, the issues of Ukraine’s accession to NATO are being discussed. They say, as you said, this will not be tomorrow. And when – the day after tomorrow? And what does this change for us in the historical perspective? Absolutely nothing, “said the President of Russia.
“We hear that Ukraine is not ready today to join NATO, we know this thesis. And they immediately say that they will not accept it tomorrow, but will accept it when it is prepared for this. But for us it may be too late,” Vladimir Putin stressed.
And despite the obvious differences, Berlin is also ready for dialogue. As Olaf Scholz noted, diplomatic possibilities have not been exhausted today. Not only Germany, but also some of the members of the alliance in Eastern Europe are ready to discuss the problems. For example, Poland proposes to resume the dialogue on security.
“This dialogue will be conducted in the spirit of mutual understanding and mutual recognition of the principles that we have agreed jointly within the OSCE. These principles include the inviolability and inviolability of borders and the territorial integrity of all states, including Ukraine. Let’s discuss these things within the framework of the dialogue, we should not reach a dead end that will turn into disaster for all of us,” said Olaf Scholz.
The head of the White House immediately made an appeal to the nation. Official Washington, which in fact supported the idea of military aggression from Moscow all this time, lowered its tone. Biden now says that he is not saying that Russia is about to attack Ukraine, but the possibility of such an outcome still remains, the President of the United States added, immediately noting that he generally agrees with Moscow’s proposal to go the route of diplomacy.
“The US and NATO do not threaten Russia, nor does Ukraine. We do not have missiles in Ukraine. And we do not plan to place them there. We do not want to destabilize the situation. Russia is not our enemy. I do not believe that the people of Russia want a bloody destructive war with Ukraine, with which they have such deep ties – historical and cultural. 77 years ago, we fought together and won the worst war in history.”
In addition, Biden assured that the US military would not be on the side of Ukraine in the event of a conflict with Russia. The states allegedly simply helped with weapons, advisers, intelligence, but they are not going to fight for Kiev. In general, Washington hopes to divert the confrontation to the fields of negotiations.
“We must give diplomacy every chance of success. The United States has made its proposals for security in Europe. These are new arms control measures and strategic stability measures. These measures apply to all parties – equally to NATO and Russia. If we get concrete steps, we can establish common security,” Biden said.
Anthony Blinken also spoke about the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the crisis. Immediately after the meeting between the two leaders, the US Secretary of State phoned the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during which he confirmed that Washington intends to follow the diplomatic path. And this is despite the fact that a day ago he expressed a completely opposite opinion: “An act of aggression this week is quite possible, we see what is happening around Ukraine now, that Russian forces are being deployed.”
And right now, the attention of all Western media is riveted to the Ukrainian borders. CNN hoped to go live at the time of the Russian invasion with at least four special correspondents, the cameramen waited in position all night to take down the tanks. The Reuters agency even launched a live broadcast from Kiev.
The German “Der Spiegel” called this trip of Scholz “the foreign policy baptism of the new chancellor.” The publication notes that it is one thing to talk about the war from afar, another thing is to sit down at the table and discuss everything in detail. They did not lose sight of the issue of Russian gas supplies to Europe.
At the meeting, Putin also called for the commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic pipeline. This infrastructure project will strengthen Europe’s energy security, Putin said. Both politicians pledged to make sure that gas transit through Europe continues to work – through Ukraine, through Belarus and through Poland, with the participation of Nord Stream 1.
The British magazine The Economist came out with a headline that Russia continues to pull troops to Ukraine, while the publication writes that Moscow is still demonstrating a willingness to negotiate. The Sun, however, had to adjust its headline at night – they announced the invasion today at exactly 3:00 am, and later edited the article to say that “the night passed without incident.” Russia’s permanent representative to the EU also said in an interview with Welt that there will definitely be no war in Europe today. Vladimir Chizhov added that there are no plans on the Russian side to go for a confrontation.