German and EU diplomacy before the Biden-Putin summit: Fear of Europe’s irrelevance – politics
It is easy to lose track of who is now talking to whom in order to prevent an attack by Russia on Ukraine. Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs representative, visited the front line in Donbass on Wednesday, while Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited her US colleague Tony Blinken.
Jens Plötner, security advisor to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, will speak to colleagues from France, Ukraine and Russia on Thursday. The NATO foreign ministers will hold a meeting on Friday.
Why the hustle and bustle? On the one hand, because Vladimir Putin is threatening war. He wants to overturn the basic principles of the peace order in Europe, including the inviolability of borders and the freedom of each country to join alliances of its choice. On the other hand, because of the injured European and their fear of an hour of truth, their irrelevance is revealed.
The Ukraine talks in question will be held by the Americans and Russians in Geneva next Monday. The Europeans know that they are not particularly important for war or peace in Ukraine, at best as members of NATO.
Russia wants to drive a wedge between Europe and the USA
Europe’s security is based on US military power. But what the alliance does, Americans and Europeans must conclude together. If this does not succeed, the United States alone is in a position to ward off dangers. Europe doesn’t.
He doesn’t take the Europeans seriously, especially not the EU. For Putin’s view of the world, it is crucial who can put pressure on whom – and who is willing to use this power. He doesn’t trust the EU to do that, even though it is ten times stronger than Russia.
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Putin’s goal is on par with the US, as it supposedly existed in the Cold War. For this, the material lining is missing all the more. The US is 14 times stronger economically and has real power in Putin’s sense.
Putin’s call for spheres of influence is outdated
Weapons for Ukraine and NATO’s presence from the Baltic States to Romania limit Putin’s room for maneuver. This alliance relies on the broad approval of the citizens – unlike Putin’s troops in Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and earlier the Soviet occupation in Central Europe.
The basic values of the peace order are non-negotiable. If Putin’s immoral offer to declare it obsolete and replace it with the outdated concept of guaranteed spheres of influence of the great powers that bring the United States and Europe together, one can quickly be grateful to him.