The actors of the Ukrainian crisis continue to blow hot and cold on Thursday. While Ukraine remains under threat of destabilization and/or Russian invasion, the United States expresses its concern, Russia its disappointment and Ukraine its moderate optimism. At the same time, France is strengthening its military presence in the easternmost countries of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Washington, the American capital, and its European allies accuse Moscow, the Russian capital, of preparing an invasion of Ukraine after massing 100,000 soldiers near its neighbor’s borders. Russia denies any plan of invasion but demands that NATO undertake to refuse Ukraine membership, a request rejected by the West.
The United States worried about a “global risk”. US Secretary of State, the equivalent of a Foreign Minister, Antony Blinken, told his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that Russian aggression against Ukraine would threaten global security and economy . “Secretary Blinken underscored the global security and economic risks posed by further Russian aggression against Ukraine and indicated that de-escalation and diplomacy were the responsible path,” the ministry spokesperson said. Ned Price. “Everything indicates” that Russian President Vladimir Putin “will use military force at some point, perhaps between now and mid-February,” Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said on Wednesday.
Russia considers the American response “not positive”. The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, indicates this Thursday that the United States has not given a positive response to the “main” Russian demand, namely the end of NATO enlargement, in particular to Ukraine. “There is no positive answer to the main question” in the documents received by Moscow from Washington. But “there is a reaction that gives hope for the start of a serious conversation on secondary issues,” he said in a statement. “The main question is our clear position on the unacceptable nature of NATO’s continued eastward expansion and the deployment of strike weapons that could threaten Russian territory,” he said, denouncing once again the unbridled expansion of the Atlantic Alliance despite promises made in Moscow in the 1990s.
“We cannot say that our points of view have been taken into account, or that there is a will to take our concerns into consideration”, added the spokesman for the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov. “We are not going to drag out the reaction, (…) but do not expect the reaction to arrive there, now. »
VIDEO. In Ukraine, soldiers brave the cold of the trenches in the face of the Russian threat
Ukraine welcomes the continuation of the discussions. The continuation of Russian-Ukrainian talks in early February in Berlin, the German capital, is “good news”. This suggests that Russia will favor the diplomatic route at least until then, said Thursday the head of Ukrainian diplomacy. “The good news is that the advisers have agreed to meet in Berlin in two weeks, which means that at least for the next two weeks, Russia is likely to stay on a diplomatic path,” Dmytro Kouleba said during the meeting. a press conference held in Denmark.
But Wednesday’s meeting in Paris of Russian and Ukrainian diplomats with French and German representatives has however “changed nothing” on the merits: “That’s the bad news. Dmytro Kouleba renewed his call to help his country with defensive weapons and financial support. “If I’m a big fan of soft power, it’s time to use the hard power (Editor’s note: the hard way, as opposed to the soft way). A strong Ukraine is in itself the best deterrent. The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs finally adds that he has “no objection” to make to the American response to Russia.
The President, Volodymyr Zelenski, for his part, described the discussions held in Paris as “constructive”. He welcomed “the will to pursue substantial negotiations in two weeks in Berlin”.
France present in Romania. French experts are expected in Romania with a view to the possible deployment of troops within the framework of NATO. “A mission of experts from the ministry is arriving today to study the parameters” of such an operation, said the Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, in a brief statement to the press, after a meeting with his Romanian counterpart, Vasile Dancu, whose country borders southern Ukraine. After having contributed to the security of European partners in the Baltic countries, “we have indicated our readiness to go further”, she recalled, while “the security situation is worrying on the eastern flank of Europe”. .
China defends Russian “concerns”. During his meeting with Antony Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for his part, defended what he described as Russia’s “reasonable concerns” for its security. “We call on all parties to calm down, to refrain from increasing tensions and escalating the crisis”, is it written in a press release issued following this high-ranking diplomatic discussion. This position comes eight days before the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese capital, which are traditionally accompanied by a “truce” in world conflicts.
Germany puts the Nord Stream II gas pipeline in the balance. Russia faces ‘massive consequences’ for aggression on Ukraine with a sanctions package being prepared by the West, which includes the controversial German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream II, says German foreign minister . “We are working on a package of strong sanctions” with the Western allies in this case, which covers several aspects “including Nord Stream II”, declared Annalena Baerbock before the Chamber of Deputies.
This gas pipeline, which is to bring Russian gas to Germany and Europe via the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine, has been completed. But its commissioning is currently blocked by the German energy regulator for legal reasons. The German coalition government, which brings together social democrats rather favorable to a conciliatory approach with Moscow, and ecologists and liberals in favor of a harder line, has continued to blow hot and cold on this subject.
Ukraine’s pro-Russian separatists demand arms from Russia. The main representative of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine demanded on Thursday that Moscow provide weapons to deal with Ukrainian forces. “We need to face the Bayraktar,” said Denis Pushilin, head of the rebel stronghold of Donestk, referring to Turkish-made drones delivered last year to Ukrainian forces despite strong protests from Russia.