Nine and a half hours of talks and few results. The discussions that brought together Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France on Thursday February 10 in Berlin to try to find a way out of the Ukrainian crisis did not produce “No result”, lamented Friday, February 11 the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitri Peskov. These discussions took place while Russia, which has massed troops at the gates of Ukraine, is accused of preparing a new military operation against this country, accusations rejected by Moscow which claims to want to ensure its security in the face of hostility. of Kiev and NATO.
In this context, the representatives of the four countries, who have been meeting since 2014 in a so-called Normandy talks format, devoted to the peace process in eastern Ukraine, have multiplied diplomatic efforts in recent weeks to achieve a de-escalation in Ukraine. Back on a series of unsuccessful attempts.
“Difficult” talks
“We all became witnesses that the meeting of political advisers in the ‘Normandy’ format did not lead to any results yesterday”, said the Kremlin spokesman at a press conference. He lamented the “inability” of the different representatives to read “in the same way” the Minsk peace accords, signed in 2015 with the aim of ending the conflict in Ukraine, which has claimed more than 13,000 lives since its outbreak eight years ago, according to the UN. “We could not agree on a common document”, declared for his part the Ukrainian negotiator Andriï Iermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration. Corn “we will continue to work”he added.
“The discussions were difficult and made it possible to clearly highlight the different positions and the different options for a solution”sources close to the French and German negotiators told AFP. “It was agreed to meet again after the next Trilateral Contact Group meetings in March”said the German government.
“We still see no signs of de-escalation in the current situation and we deeply regret that,” German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said on Friday. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will also visit Ukraine on Monday, before going to Moscow on Tuesday, as Emmanuel Macron did before him.
US skeptical of diplomatic advances
Earlier this week, the French president traveled to Moscow, where he met his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to try to defuse the crisis. Ukraine then welcomed “real chance” of de-escalation and Germany “progress”. A concert of cautious optimism which the United States did not wish to join. Washington thus allowing its skepticism to filter through on the potential “advanced” welcomed with relief by Europeans.
On Thursday, United States President Joe Biden called on his fellow citizens to leave Ukraine immediately. “Things could quickly get carried away”, warned the American president in an interview with NBC. He repeated that he would not send soldiers on the ground in Ukraine, even to evacuate Americans in the event of a Russian invasion, because that could trigger “a world war”. “When Americans and Russians start shooting at each other, we’re in a very different world,” he asserted. “American citizens should leave, they should leave now. We are dealing with one of the greatest armies in the world,” pleaded the president in reference to the Russian army.
“Very disturbing signs of a Russian escalation”
Russia has been carrying out major maneuvers in Belarus, a neighbor of Ukraine, since Thursday. The following day, Moscow announced further training for “combat missions” in the Russian border region of Rostov, with hundreds of soldiers and tanks. In addition, the Russian navy conducts maneuvers in the Black Sea, of which Ukraine is also bordering.
From Melbourne (Australia), US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he saw “very disturbing signs of a Russian escalation”. “We are in a period where an invasion could start at any time, and to be clear, that includes the Olympics,” he said, brushing aside speculation that Moscow would wait out the Beijing Games, which end on February 20, to avoid overshadowing its Chinese ally.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg again warned on Friday against the “real risk of a new armed conflict” in Europe, during the visit to a key Romanian military base for the Alliance. “Russian troop numbers are increasing while warning times are decreasing,” he warned. “At the same time, there is no certainty, and so we continue to call on Russia to de-escalate and engage in political dialogue with NATO,” added the leader of the Alliance.