![]() But now the Kremlin’s master has also given a boost to the EU’s unity on foreign and security policy. ![]() From 2014, his actions have helped not only consolidate Ukraine’s sense of nationhood, as Russian and Ukrainian speakers have come together to face the invaders. Even Putin’s fanboys in Eastern Europe – like Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán or the Czech President Miloš Zeman – would rather not be associated with the Kremlin these days. Big business was often in bed with Moscow, but that is no longer the case. It has also signalled to energy majors like BP and Shell that it is time to divest from Russia, writing off billions from their balance sheets. The decision has sent the rouble into a free fall. ![]() Who would have thought, for instance, that a Social Democratic Chancellor of Germany would pull the plug on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline? Or that Italy, Hungary and Cyprus would go along with the decision to cut off Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system? Or that the European Union and the US would go as far as sanctioning the Russian Central Bank and freezing a good chunk of its foreign reserves held in the West? And it has also united Europe against it and even its “friends” have fallen in line. The attack against Ukraine has brought Russia closer to a pariah state status: a North Korea in Europe’s east, if you will. The summit the two presidents held back in June 2021 even ended on a relatively positive note. United States President Joe Biden too, though hardly a fan of Putin’s, thought cooperation was desirable and possible in areas such as strategic arms control and even cybersecurity. In 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron thought a strategic dialogue with Moscow was in order. Hostilities never really ceased since the peak in 2014-2015, and people regularly got killed, but so long as the Minsk accords were in place, the likes of Germany and France had a handy diplomatic fig leaf.Īnd not to forget, Western leaders were talking, however cautiously, about engagement with Russia. The conflict in the Donbas region of Ukraine had become “Europe’s forgotten war”. Yes, leaders opposed the landgrab rhetorically but thought it was a done deal. The West had more or less swallowed the annexation of Crimea. The opposition was muffled, with Alexey Navalny locked up and his organisation largely neutered. Up until February 24, Vladimir Putin had it good. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |