ESt-ca really a surprise? Two months after the resumption of contacts between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, whose telephone interview on February 12 was to launch a negotiation process supposed to quickly lead to a cease-fire in Ukraine, the war continues and no prospect of ending it.
Multiple political and diplomatic adventures enamelled these two months, including the shameful session of the oval office on February 28, where President Trump and his vice-president, J. D. Vance, abused the Ukrainian head of state, Volodyr Zelensky. But neither the negotiators nor the belligerents seem closer to a cease-fire than when the republican arrived at the White House. THE “Carnage” That Mr. Trump claims to want to stop continues, on the front and in the Ukrainian cities.
Friday, April 11, the emissary of the American president, Steve Witkoff, had an interview of more than four hours with President Putin in Saint Petersburg. It is their third meeting, but it does not seem to have made the process advance in a decisive way.
Russian President's procrastination
The reason for this bogging is simple: while pretending to be open to negotiations, Mr. Putin does not intend to end his assault as long as he has not kneed the Ukrainians and their president. He wants to ensure Russian domination over their country. When his employees explain that any negotiation must first attack the “Deep Causes” Conflict, this is what it is about: the objective of the war is to prevent Ukraine from being an independent, democratic country, capable of ensuring its defense and likely to choose its alliances.
Despite the enormous losses and the destruction that Russia has inflicted on them for more than three years, the Ukrainians are not willing to submit. On the front, their army resists. It also happens that, despite a likely lack of enthusiasm for this conflict, the Russians are not ready to rise. War will therefore continue.
Russia, in War economics mode supported by China, produces enough weapons to feed its troops, not to mention those given to it by North Korea and Iran. Supposed by its Western allies, Ukraine produces it more and more itself and shows remarkable creativity in the field of drones and combat robots. None of the two belligerents, however, is able to inflict a decisive defeat on the other.
Mr. Trump, who, on his social network, called Russia “To move”will he get tired of the procrastination of the Russian president, or has he decided since the start to meet all his requirements? It is the unknown that Europeans must manage, deliberately excluded from negotiations by the Russians and the Americans while they are on the front line.
Friday, after a meeting of the allies of Ukraine chaired by the British and German defense ministers, 21 billion euros in additional military aid for kyiv were released. Europeans would indeed be wrong to wait for things to untie. They have no other choice than to continue to organize to try to ensure the security of Ukraine, either in the event of a cease-fire, or in that of an American withdrawal. In both cases, it is their safety to them.
Source: Lemonde