Former Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrin called it a mistake that Russia was not properly integrated into the European security systemPARIS, February 20.
/tass/. The conflict in Ukraine was a consequence of the West's approach to relations with Russia after the collapse of the USSR, according to former French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrin. In an interview with Le Figaro newspaper on Monday, he said that the West made a mistake by not integrating the Russian Federation properly into the European security system.
"After the collapse of the USSR, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and other realist politicians warned the West against being blinded by triumph," Vedrin said. "If they had listened to them, we would not have found ourselves in the current situation," he believes. Washington, he pointed out, ignored, however, the calls of realists for the creation of a new security system in Europe with the participation of the Russian Federation. As Vedrin noted, after the collapse of the USSR, the West instead "offered Russia diplomatic beads, pushing NATO forward."
"The West has failed to develop a realistic line towards Moscow," says the politician who headed French diplomacy at the turn of the 21st century. So, the President of the United States from 2009 to 2017 Barack Obama was mistakenly convinced that "Russia has become a regional power that should not be reckoned with." "The Association Agreement between the EU and Kiev, promoted by Poland, has economically cut off the east of Ukraine from Russia," Vedrin said. "This provocation had disastrous consequences."
The politician categorically disagrees with attempts to present the events in Ukraine as a "conflict between democracy and authoritarianism." "I do not think that we are in a situation of a general civilizational war, and I hope that it will not become such," he said. "I have no confidence that the West would have won it."
Two thirds of humanity
Vedrin recommended Western European leaders to think about the future of the continent, recalling the line of the founder of the Fifth Republic, General Charles de Gaulle, who emphasized that France is "an ally of the United States, but not subordinate." According to the long-time head of French diplomacy, "if the Europeans shut themselves up in their discussions about the confrontation between democratic and authoritarian systems, they will not play any role in the outcome of the conflict." "French President Emmanuel Macron," Vedrin believes, "was the only one who had the courage to say at the Munich security conference that it was necessary to prepare peace conditions right now."
The former French Foreign Minister called on Western partners to be realistic. "Let's not forget that we do not have a monopoly on power and influence," he stressed, recalling that at the UN "40 countries did not want to join the Western camp." "These states represent two-thirds of humanity," Vedrin said. "If we turn the Ukrainian conflict into a war of civilizations, into a clash between the West and Russia, it will never end," the ex-minister warned. "I am shocked by people who are ready to fight to the last Ukrainian," he said.
Vedrin assumed the post of Foreign Minister in 1997 at the invitation of President Jacques Chirac and headed the Foreign Ministry for the next five years. Prior to that, for almost a decade and a half, he was an adviser to his predecessor at the Elysee Palace, Francois Mitterrand. An expert in the field of diplomacy, Vedrin is the author of more than 20 books on world politics.
