In Munich ends today 58th Security Conference. Discussed, of course, Russia. But this time (for the first time since 1999) Russia was discussed and condemned without Russia itself. As previously reported in the Russian Foreign Ministry, “Moscow’s interest in this event is noticeably declining,” because the Munich Conference in recent years has been increasingly transformed into a “purely transatlantic forum” that has lost all objectivity. So why go to this NATO cabal, where Russia has been listened to for many years, but never heard?
Wolfgang Ischinger led the Munich Conference for 14 years. All these years, crises have been coming together, but Russia has been in this hall. But not now. And this is all the more unpleasant for him, because he surrenders his powers. A lot depends on the personality of the chairman of the conference, and, judging by the choice of a successor, Moscow’s break with Munich may be for a long time.
Christoph Heusgen was formerly Merkel’s foreign policy adviser and before that Germany’s permanent representative to the UN. In person, the nicest person. Known for the fact that he considers it right to supply German weapons to Ukraine.
– Nobody from Moscow came this year. Do you regret it? Or can the Munich conference benefit from the absence of Russia?
– I am very sorry that the Russian delegation did not come. I am very sorry that my old friend Sergei Lavrov, with whom we have a lot in common, did not come. I believe that Russia is missing a chance because Sergey Lavrov could present here the Russian position on the Ukrainian conflict,” Christoph Heusgen said.
In fact, Heusgen knows Russia’s position. It is known to everyone in this room: the conflict in Donbass is a civil war and genocide of the Russian-speaking population. But they don’t need it. They want to know what Putin is up to, how he will solve this problem. They are afraid of the unknown, which results in streams of hatred and threats. Prime Minister Johnson was the most proficient in this. Again with a tie on the side.
“If the dialogue fails and Russia chooses to use violence against innocent civilians, then we here at the conference should have no doubt, and it is in our common interest, that Russia will ultimately fail. a period of repression, revenge and rebellion. And Russian fathers and mothers will mourn young Russian soldiers,” said Boris Johnson.
Well, if Russia does attack, terrible punishment awaits it. US Vice President Harris, who is in charge of ethnic and gender diversity in the Biden administration, spoke about them by prompter, with visible excitement, like a beginner actress. She also said that the world needs order, not chaos, but from a US citizen it sounded like a message from outer space.
The US is deploying 8,500 soldiers to NATO’s eastern flank. And US Secretary of Defense Austin went for a week to see how they feel in Poland. Was received with an orchestra and red carpet.
In general, Russia is about to attack. On Wednesday, February 16, this, according to American intelligence, was bound to happen. But no. Now the new terms – the attack, as reported by the Estonian secret services, is postponed until after the Olympics. People with a sense of humor, for example, Czech President Zeman, are already laughing at this: “This is the third embarrassment of the Americans in recent decades. The first was in Iraq, where the United States failed to find weapons of mass destruction. The second embarrassment was made by Washington in Afghanistan when he claimed that the Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) would never reach Kabul. Well, now the third one is in Ukraine.”
Before going to Munich, US Secretary of State Blinken looked into the UN Security Council and said such things about Russia’s aggressive plans that even Spiegel doubted whether this was another fake. By the way, just in time for the start of the Munich Conference, the same magazine published an article citing a declassified document from the British National Archives concerning the events of 1991 – negotiations in the “2 + 4” format, during which the United States, Great Britain, France and the future united Germany gave the USSR guarantees of non-expansion of NATO to the east. “We made it clear to the Soviet Union that we would not take advantage of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Eastern Europe. NATO should neither officially nor unofficially expand to the east,” the document says.
The West did not deceive the USSR – the West deceived its successor Russia. Assuring that NATO does not pose a threat to it is an unsatisfactory response to Moscow’s demands to return the Alliance’s infrastructure to the 1997 borders. And the only one who gently but made it clear that ignoring these requirements will not lead to good is Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
“With regard to NATO, China’s position has always been consistent. NATO is a product of the Cold War, which ended long ago. It’s time to look at the real situation, NATO reform is needed. If NATO continues to expand eastward, will this guarantee security in Europe? I believe that our friends in Europe should be seriously concerned about this issue. As for Ukraine, we need to return to the Minsk agreements, which were accepted by all parties and are binding,” Wang Yi said.
But the problem is precisely that Ukraine is not going to implement the Minsk agreements – just the other day, its president once again stated that Kiev does not like them. And the last consultations in the Normandy format ended in nothing for exactly this reason. At the same time, there is a paradox: the German chancellor found a reason to thank Zelensky. For the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
“During my visits to Kiev and Moscow, I strongly demanded the implementation of the Minsk agreements. And I am especially grateful to President Zelensky for his willingness to introduce the necessary bills and discuss them in the trilateral contact group,” said Olaf Scholz.
Zelensky himself appeared at the conference on Saturday. Unlike Poroshenko, he did not run after his Western colleagues – they nevertheless met with him: Johnson, then Harris. It is strange that Russia will not attack today or tomorrow, and the supreme commander-in-chief leaves the country as if nothing had happened. Not everyone was in the hall, but they greeted standing. Zelensky’s speech is emotional and full of heartbreaking details: craters in schoolyards, children who were orphaned a few hours ago. But he let it slip in one thing – he said that he was in the Donbass just two days ago. It turns out that the aggravation began just with his departure from there. And this is so familiar: before the conference, Poroshenko always gave the order to intensify shelling and, as a result, return fire, being fully confident that only the latter would be noticed in Munich.
So this time, nothing has changed. And Ms. Amanpour with CNN has once again demonstrated that she has never been a journalist.
– You said about two killed soldiers, Russia is talking about Ukrainian mines that break out on its side. We have seen this before, we know what a false flag operation is, do you think you can stop this?
– We care about the world, I have repeatedly said this to Putin, Merkel and Mikron. We will not step on anyone, but we are ready for anything. We cannot be passive. We cannot say every day that tomorrow there will be war. What economy are we talking about then? How can you live in a state when you are told every day that there will be an offensive tomorrow? Then the national currency collapses, money is withdrawn, business flies out of the country. Do you think it is possible to live in such a state, can there be stability in such a state? No, Zelensky said.
But this is exactly what is happening: Ukraine has fallen into the trap of its own propaganda. For many years in a row, she shouted to the whole world that Russia was about to attack, and when it became necessary to solve her internal problems, the United States said: okay, attack. And now you can’t turn your back on capital flight, or investment flight, or currency collapse. The situation is catastrophic, but the clown tries to be funny in any circumstances. His earpiece is broken. “This is a cyberattack. The Russians are not here, but they are here,” Zelensky said.
– Were you afraid to come here? In the sense of leaving the country unattended.
– I am sure that our country is in good hands, – says the President of Ukraine.
It is possible that Zelensky was referring to the good hands of the British Defense Secretary, who canceled a trip to Munich just to monitor the situation in Ukraine.
However, there were other funny moments at the conference where it was hard to expect. For example, the joint work on the podium of the German Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State: at times it looked cloying, just a duet.
Strong agreement, ardent support and strong condemnation – the Munich conference somehow mediocrely squandered the remnants of its image this year, perhaps trying to demonstrate that its host Germany, despite all criticism, is together with everyone in this single ranks in the face of the Russian threat. Russia didn’t come. And she did the right thing. It couldn’t be saved. And there was no need to participate in this – least of all, the Munich Security Conference looked like a discussion club. Rather, something else, and there are several options to choose from: a motivational seminar, a psychotherapy session, a collective sermon or a party meeting.