Pope Francis spoke on the Ukrainian crisis at the end of the general audience. “I would like to thank – said the Pope – all the people and communities who gathered in prayer for peace in Ukraine last January 26. We continue to beg the God of peace so that the tensions and threats of war may be overcome through a serious dialogue and so that the talks in the Normandy Format can also contribute to this purpose. And let’s not forget: war is madness “.
Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, time is being gained. The Russian troops have not yet withdrawn, but at least the risk of an imminent war in the heart of Europe has receded. The French president, Emmanuel Macron – who in two days was first in Moscow, then in Kiev and finally in Berlin – said that “there is the possibility of moving the negotiations forward” and that now “concrete practical solutions” are needed to have a de-escalation in the crisis between Russia and the West over Ukraine. “In the coming weeks a very difficult task awaits us, on everyone’s part a balance in words and actions is essential”. Even the Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, before the Joint Foreign and Defense Commissions of the House and Senate, confirmed that he saw the risk of a Russian invasion reduced.
And now the next steps are awaited. Macron believes he has received assurances from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that there will be no new escalation. “The talks I have had have allowed us to make progress for the security and stability of the region,” he said during the joint press conference in Kiev with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky. Macron also claims to have extorted from the Russian president the promise that Moscow will not take further military escalation steps on the border with the neighboring country. “(Putin) told me that it will not cause an escalation. It is important. And the second element is that there will be no fixed bases or deployments of sensitive equipment in Belarus.”
In fact, in Moscow, the Kremlin spokesman categorically denied that Macron had managed to wrest from Putin the promise that Russia “will not undertake new military initiatives”.
Putin’s spokesman also stressed that France is not the correct interlocutor because it does not have a leadership role in NATO. “It is absolutely false. Moscow and Paris could not have made such an agreement, it is simply impossible,” said Dmitry Peskov. “France holds the rotating presidency of the countries of the European Union, it is also a member of NATO, but it has no leadership, in this bloc the leadership is held by another country. What agreements can we discuss?”.
Peskov, however, acknowledged that a de-escalation “is really necessary, as the tension increases with each passing day. Western countries send troops to Ukraine, send aircraft loaded with weapons, send military equipment. This, of course, causes new spirals of tension. “. As for the joint military exercises with Belarus, which will begin on Thursday and which have alarmed the Atlantic Alliance, he recalled that “never” no one said that Russian troops would remain in the former Soviet republic close to Poland at the end of the maneuvers. . “Of course, when the drills are over, they will return to their permanent positions,” he assured him.
Zelensky now expects an upcoming summit with the Russian and French presidents and the German chancellor, a summit that will surely be preceded by a new meeting at the level of advisers in the Normandy format – Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany – in Berlin the day after tomorrow, Thursday.
There remains the unknown about Putin’s real intentions, who on Monday did not say a word of the Russian troops present on the borders of Ukraine; and indeed it denounced once again the ‘no’ of the West to put an end to NATO’s enlargement policy and to withdraw its troops from Eastern Europe: Russia has presented these requests as conditions for de-escalation. According to the French presidency, Vladimir Putin has agreed to examine Macron’s proposals, namely the commitment not to undertake new military initiatives on either side, the initiation of a dialogue, in particular on the Russian military position, the peace negotiations on the conflict in Ukraine and the start of a strategic dialogue.
Kiev insists on three “red lines”: no compromise on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, no direct negotiations with separatists and no interference in its foreign policy. Zelensky said he was willing to meet Putin; and Macron, who stopped in Berlin for a working dinner with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, stressed that both Putin and Zelensky confirmed their willingness to abide by the Minsk Agreements. “To date, this is the only path that will allow us to achieve lasting peace”.
The maneuvers on the ground, however, do not stop. The armed forces of Kiev will hold military exercises with weapons supplied by the allies from 10 to 20 February, the same days in which Russia and Belarus will carry out joint maneuvers near the Ukrainian northern border. In short, the war games unfortunately continue.