A joint press conference in the halls of the Kremlin following an interview lasting more than five hours. European guest of honor in Moscow, Tuesday 1is February, Viktor Orban was entitled to preferential treatment. The visit of the Hungarian Prime Minister allowed Vladimir Putin to expose the divisions of NATO and the European Union on Ukraine, while highlighting the advantages of cooperation with Russia to benefit from an energy at an affordable price, thanks to long-term contracts for the purchase of Russian gas.
→ CONTEXT. Orban’s Hungary, increasingly aligned with Moscow
The strongman of Budapest denounced the policy of sanctions once morest Russia of the European Union ” doomed to fail “, praised the “new opportunities” offered by the Russian economy and assured that “ significant differences are surmountable” between Russia and Western countries. Vladimir Putin, speaking for the first time since December on the Ukrainian crisis, said he hoped “the dialogue on Ukraine will continue” by mentioning an upcoming visit by Emmanuel Macron to Moscow. “I hope that in the end we will find a solution, even if it is not easy”, he said.
“The Containment of Russia”
The Russian President reiterated that ” fundamental Russian concerns have been ignored.” “The main objective of the United States is the containment of Russia, he hammered, Ukraine is an instrument to drag us into an armed conflict and impose the harshest sanctions on us. » Vladimir Putin took up the traditional Russian argument by calling for respect for a principle stated in the European Security Charter, adopted at an OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999, according to which “No one should increase their security at the expense of others”.
→ READ. Ukraine: Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin media pretend to play the calm card
A few hours earlier, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, had spokenon the phone, butthe published accounts, on both sides, did not suggest a diplomatic breakthrough. Vladimir Putin seems to want to play the clock in the long-term search for a negotiated solution to bring out the differences and the contradictory interests of Western countries.
Boris Johnson will wait
In the meantime, the Russian president carefully chooses his interlocutors, those with whom he speaks on the telephone, like those he invites to come and see him in person in Moscow. After Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi seem to have his preference. The French president had it twice in 72 hours on the phone. The head of the Italian government was entitled, on Tuesday 1isFebruary, to a telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation. «Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to further ensure the stability of Italy’s supply of Russian natural gas from Italy,” according to the press release from the presidential executive office.
Boris Johnson will have to wait until Wednesday February 2 to speak to Vladimir Putin. Initially scheduled for Monday, the telephone interview was canceled to allow the British Prime Minister to speak to the House of Commons on “partygate”. Schedule problem or calculated snub from Moscow, the Kremlin rejected Downing Street’s request to set it for Tuesday.
In this diplomatic activism, the trip to Kiev is one of the figures imposed on European leaders, each wanting to be an important diplomatic player in the Ukrainian crisis. The head of the British government made on Tuesday 1is February, a whirlwind visit to the Ukrainian capital, at the same time as the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte is to succeed them, as is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expected Thursday, February 3, in the capital. Many foreign ministers are to follow, including the French Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on February 7 and 8.
