A new cold between Paris and kyiv
It is enough to throw a new cold between Paris and kyiv as Emmanuel Macron, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU until July 1, is under pressure from Ukraine, which has been awaiting his visit since the start of the offensive in Russia on February 24.. Reactions were also strong in Eastern European countries that felt most threatened by their powerful neighbor Russia.
“The president of France is still looking for ways to save the war criminal Putin from a disgrace. What will he say to that little girl in Ukraine?», The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, Marko Mihkelson, asked on his Facebook page, over a photo showing a child with a broken leg on his hospital bed.
The head of Latvian diplomacy, Edgars Rinkevics, for his part was upset about the dialogue that Emmanuel Macron was continuing with the Kremlin master by quoting, on Twitter, a Russian love song from the Soviet era (“Maybe I forgot my pride. I want to hear the voice. ”).
“Quick Release”
“Putin will only negotiate if his army can no longer advance, embarrassed or not. Macron needs to focus on that ”, also reacted, painfully, to Barack Obama’s former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, now a professor at Stanford University. Emmanuel Macron has put himself by his side in the long term, when “Peace Will Return” and the of “new security balance” should be established in Europe.
Must “never send the temptation of humiliation or the spirit of revenge”, he said on May 9 in Strasbourg.
The Head of State then referred to the “dictatorship” imposed in 1919 on the winners of the First World War in Germany, with heavy territorial losses and reparations, that would lead to a new world war in 1939- 45.
“We will not embarrass Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can find a way out through diplomatic channels. “, he reiterated on Saturday in an interview with several regional daily. Behind this debate also points to the conditions of the ceasefire, and potential concessions to Russia.
What peace?
Should Ukraine be given unconditional support until an overall victory is achieved, as suggested by the Americans and Eastern Europe? With the danger of Russia retaliating against the West, including nuclear weapons, are some worried?
If, on the other hand, the conflict freezes in the Donbass, “At some point, tired of the war effort, the two parties may agree to a ceasefire, which never ends the conflict”, observes Marie Dumoulin, expert at the European Council on International Relations (ECFR) in an analysis note. But many feared the introduction of 2014, when the West allowed Russia to annex Crimea without firing, and the Minsk Accords of 2015 that never succeeded in ending the pro-Russian conflict in the east. Ukraine.
Paris and Berlin were then in operation. Seven years later, Emmanuel Macron still claims a “rôthe power of mediation ” for France, which also criticizes a “history and fundamental error”and Vladimir Putin.
But for what peace? This will be done on “terms” defined in Ukraine, insisted the Head of State, unnecessary commitment of the people of the East who suspected him of wanting to make concessions in Moscow. For American diplomat Daniel Fried, now a consultant to the Atlantic Council, Emmanuel Macron puts himself in a “ good faith diplomacy. “But the Kremlin is on the logic of violence”away from “Acts of goodwill “.
“We will continue to work together so that a generation of men and women do not have to grow up under the scourge of a great power of war”, warned Monday the American Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, during a ceremony in Normandy for the 78th anniversary of the Allied landings.