Mertz wants negotiations* and peace through pressure on Russia. Radev wants negotiations and peace through pressure on … Ukraine. How big is the difference? This is what MEP Radan Kanev asks in a position, posted on Facebook and gives the answers. “Huge, for several reasons,” he wrote.
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1. First the context: Until recently, Putin ruled out the participation of Europe in the negotiation process. He actually excluded Ukraine as well. His idea was only direct negotiation with Trump, who also publicly rejected the role of Europe and Ukraine.
2. More context: Trump is not interested in the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine. In his primal, somewhat infantile views of the world, Ukraine is a terrain of “split influence” between the US and Russia – both economic and strategic. Sort of like Persia between Russia and the British Empire over a century ago. With the difference that Trump does not know about Persia, and Putin does and is obsessed with such imperial deals, which puts him in a much better position in friendly talks.
3. Both Trump and Putin see an interest in Europe’s weakness – both economic and strategic. From this perspective, a peace that is humiliating for Europe and fatal for Ukrainian independence seems like a good deal between them. A deal after which the “diffusion of influence” can continue in the West. In the Southwest – in the Balkans – there are two more powerful factors – China and Turkey.
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4. About Trumpburying Ukrainian independence and shifting risk to the West represented an invaluable opportunity to develop a business model from New York that – they say – was not alien to his family. It’s called a security racket and requires a weak, insecure and threatened “partner” to “protect”…
5. Accordingly – for Europe“peace” by pressuring Ukraine and crushing its independence is a nightmare scenario that dramatically increases the risks the continent (not just the EU) already faces.
6. Accordingly – for Europe negotiations without European participation cannot lead to real peace. They are a path to escalation of risks. Needless to say, negotiations without Ukrainian participation cannot lead to any peace, only chaos and escalation of violence.
7. The great victory of Ukraine (and to no small extent Europe’s) is that more than a year after Trump’s bullshit racket began, Ukraine’s position on the battlefield is improving, not worsening. And its diplomatic positions have improved many times, thanks to unique innovations in the field of defense and the conduct of military operations. This sharply increases the weight of Europe, which is the only one left behind Ukraine in this difficult period.
Or to put it briefly – Mr. Radev’s position of reducing/stopping support for Ukraine and weakening the pressure on Russia cannot meet either our Bulgarian or pan-European interests. It is dramatically different from the European consensus, in this case expressed by Merz. And it actually serves not so much Putin as it does Trump. Because division in the EU along the “Kremlin” axis is not possible. But along the axis “Washington” is still there, though not for long.
*Every responsible politician in Europe (including Ukraine) wants peace and knows that peace is achieved through negotiations. Both Zelensky, Mertz, Macron, and Meloni have repeatedly called for a peaceful solution.
Source: Actualno
