Vladimir Putin obtained the support of Xi Jinping’s China on Friday in the standoff between him and the West over Ukraine, the Europeans for their part intensifying diplomatic efforts to avoid a war.
The Kremlin confirmed to expect French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on February 15 for talks with the Russian president. Mr. Macron will also travel to Ukraine on Tuesday, and Mr. Scholz is expected there on February 14.
Visiting Beijing just before the opening of the Olympics, Vladimir Putin for his part pleaded with his Chinese partner in a joint declaration for a “new era” in international relations and the end of American hegemonism.
In this document, the two countries with increasingly tense relations with Washington denounce the role of the Western military alliances, NATO and AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and United States), judging them destructive for “stability and a just peace” in the world.
They say they are “opposed to any future enlargement of NATO”, echoing Moscow’s main demand to achieve a de-escalation of tensions around Ukraine.
Moscow has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers for months on Ukraine’s borders, which for Westerners is a sign of a major military operation to come.
Russia, which denies any project in this direction, says in return that it feels threatened by the Atlantic Alliance and, in order to reduce tensions, is calling for the end of its enlargement policy and its withdrawal from Eastern Europe. A request deemed unacceptable by Europeans and Americans.
Moscow and Beijing line up behind the concept of “the indivisibility of security”, on which the Kremlin bases itself to demand a departure from NATO from its neighborhood, arguing that the security of some cannot be achieved at the expense of that others, despite the right of each state, and therefore of Ukraine, to choose its alliances.
Diplomatic ballet
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who offered to mediate in the Ukrainian crisis and was in Kiev on Thursday, accused the West on Friday of “making things worse” between Russia and Ukraine.
The vitriolic Russian-American exchanges also continue to follow one another. Washington assured — without presenting evidence — that Moscow wanted to prepare a video of a fake attack to have a pretext to invade Ukraine.
The Kremlin has brushed off these accusations, urging “not to take their word for it” from the American authorities. The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, denounced the “delusional” allegations.
The Europeans, for their part, have stepped up diplomatic efforts to avoid a war on the eastern flank of the EU.
The visits of Messrs. Macron and Scholz in Russia as in Ukraine are part of this perspective, France and Germany being the two mediators of the conflict between Ukrainians and pro-Russian separatists supported by Moscow.
“Many topics are on the agenda. Above all, there will be discussions on the security guarantees” demanded by Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of Macron’s visit.
Ukraine, for its part, said it was satisfied on Friday with Western support, which it said made it possible to defeat “the strategy of intimidation” of Moscow’s last months.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba even assured that “Russia has lost this game”.
In a symbolic victory, the American giant YouTube on Friday closed channels used by pro-Russian separatists, at war since 2014 against the forces of Kiev. This conflict claimed more than 13,000 lives.
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense has published videos of impressive military maneuvers in Belarus, a neighbor of Ukraine and an ally of Russia, involving tanks and combat planes.
These exercises in several stages must last until February 20, and Washington estimated that they aggravated the tensions in the region, judging that the Kremlin was preparing to send 30,000 men to Belarus.