Russian bombs showed the location of the Putin whisperers

Just a couple of weeks ago, some of the leaders of the EU countries believed that Russia might have a real desire for peace negotiations. At the same time, talk became active that Europe would also need its own peace negotiator, so that Russia and the United States could not discuss issues concerning Europe over its head.

Among the EU countries, Austria, Slovenia and to some extent Italy in particular have hoped to start a direct dialogue with Russia. According to diplomatic sources, some EU countries are also suffering from war fatigue due to Russia’s “special operation” that has been going on for the fifth year. In addition, war and sanctions burden the economies of EU countries.

The president of the republic has been speculated as one of the candidates for European peace negotiator Alexander Stubbwho said in an interview with Yle that he is not going to refuse the job if it is asked of him.

“It’s probably the kind of thing that can’t be answered in the negative,” Stubb said on Yle.

However, according to Stubb, Russia’s readiness for a ceasefire is a prerequisite for the start of negotiations. Now it doesn’t exist – on the contrary, in recent days, Russia has hit Kiev harder than before. For example, last Sunday, Russia made a very big strike and fired about 90 missiles and 600 drones in and around Kiev.

Russia has also called on Western diplomats to leave Ukraine, but at least the EU diplomats have decided to stay in Kyiv.

The strikes changed the conversation

The foreign ministers of the EU countries were supposed to discuss the conditions for opening peace negotiations and the EU’s goals at the informal meeting of foreign ministers starting Thursday in Cyprus, but now the situation has changed: the Kremlin is not moving to the negotiation phase, and therefore the EU’s line has turned to create pressure on Russia.

According to several EU sources, the problem is not only that Russia is unwilling to negotiate. The problem is also that the opening of negotiations could benefit Russia too much, as they could erode the EU’s expulsion front and increase disagreements within the Union.

It is also known that negotiations are a strategic tool for Russia. According to diplomatic sources, Russia uses the talks in three ways: Russia builds legitimacy for itself by participating in peace talks without changing its concrete policy. Second, Russia is using the negotiation process to play for time in a war whose outcome is still open. Russia is also trying to break the unity of the West by shifting the discussion to the bilateral relations of the EU countries. This is also reflected in the talks about possible Russian whisperers from different countries, which Russia carefully assesses.

At the moment, Europe is in a situation where potential Putin whisperers have to take a back seat. Instead, the EU is trying to increase sanctions pressure on Russia and is trying to isolate a country waging an illegal war of aggression.

Europe is also trying to keep the US involved in supporting Ukraine militarily, so that it can maintain its independence. The EU acts as a payer for American weapons, but even euros will not help if the United States runs out of critical weapons for Ukraine due to other ongoing wars.

The United States should be kept in the Ukrainian peace process also because without them, Ukraine cannot get credible peace security guarantees. They are needed so that Russia does not attack Ukraine again later.