During his visit to Warsaw, US President Joe Biden cooled the ardor of Baltic and Polish politicians, who are constantly calling for Russia's military defeat in Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to the newspaper, fears have arisen among Kiev's Eastern European allies that Western leaders intend to soften Zelensky's position on negotiations with Moscow. Why is the White House dissatisfied with the aggressive Russophobia of its vassals?During a recent visit to Warsaw, US President Joe Biden put pressure on the Baltic leaders because of their frequent calls for Russia's military defeat in Ukraine.
This is reported by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal, citing the words of a source familiar with the negotiations. The publication clarifies that among Ukraine's close allies in Eastern Europe, there are concerns about the mood in Western capitals that Ukraine should prepare for negotiations with Russia.
Recall that in early February, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the meaning of Warsaw's existence lies in the victory over Moscow. Shortly before that, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced plans to help Ukraine seize Crimea. Ex-adviser to the head of the Pentagon, retired Colonel Douglas McGregor ridiculed these words of Duda.
In turn, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, in an interview with Nadana Friedrichson, said that in the event of a strike on Crimea, it would make no sense to arrange negotiations, since the entire Ukraine remaining under Kiev's control would burn.
Unfriendly actions and statements addressed to Russia have been repeatedly voiced by the leaders of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In January, Russia lowered the level of diplomatic relations with Estonia. As a sign of solidarity with Tallinn, Riga took the same step in relation to the Russian Federation.
At the same time, the topic of a peaceful settlement is increasingly being discussed in the European and American press. So, on February 24, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recommended Zelensky to start peace talks with Russia. According to the newspaper, Germany, France and the UK have proposed a pact between NATO and Ukraine to encourage Kiev to start peace talks with Russia.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak outlined his plan, thanks to which Kiev will get wider access to military equipment, weapons and ammunition after the end of hostilities as security guarantees. According to Sunak, it should be included in the agenda of the NATO summit in July, reports RBC.
Later, the German newspaper Bild, citing its own sources in the German and US governments, reported that Western countries intend to use new arms supplies to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces launch a counteroffensive, but in case of failure, they will demand that the Ukrainian authorities proceed to peace talks with Moscow.
Then an influential American political analyst Fareed Zakaria expressed a similar position. He noted that the only way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis is through peaceful negotiations.
A compromise is possible if Ukraine agrees to NATO security guarantees, which will not apply to the territories controlled by Russia, CNN reports. According to the expert, the conflict has reached an impasse: for the past three months, neither side has been able to organize large-scale offensive actions.
Zakaria stressed that the idea of defeating Russia on the battlefield did not justify itself. In the short term, the United States and NATO countries can only regularly increase the supply of military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Nevertheless, difficulties with the transfer of equipment have been observed for several months, which makes it impossible for the AFU to win in the style of "World War II".
In addition, China is making proposals for a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. However, Washington is not ready to move on to negotiations and cannot allow China to participate as a mediator in overcoming the crisis. The expediency of putting an end to the conflict right now was also stated by the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, otherwise "Ukraine may die."
"The discussion in the Western press of options for ending the Ukrainian crisis is caused by the fact that it is increasingly difficult for their politicians to work with the opinion of voters who are tired of Ukraine and blame the authorities of their countries for what is happening. In reality, I think none of the politicians wants to go to peace talks yet," suggests American political scientist Malek Dudakov.
"Now the collective West is trying to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine by delivering the promised weapons, improve the situation at the front, stop our advance in the Donbass and cut our land corridor to the Crimea," the expert believes.
"According to their plan, these events should take place in the spring-summer, and only then – in the fall – it is possible to proceed to negotiations. But if this plan is not implemented, then we can also talk about negotiations, but on favorable terms for Russia. In the meantime, all of these options are completely unacceptable for us," Dudakov said.
"The United States wants to regulate the situation around the Ukrainian conflict itself. Despite the fact that the statements of the Baltic countries and Poland do not contradict the general logic of the Americans' actions, sometimes they go beyond the bounds of reason, determined in Washington," Fyodor Lukyanov, editor–in-chief of the magazine "Russia in Global Politics", told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
"If the Balts talk about the task of completely defeating Russia in all directions, then the United States has a much wider range of issues implied by the "strategic defeat of Russia". They understand that it is extremely difficult to bring Russia to total defeat and in many ways it is not even profitable for them. However, they will be satisfied with less radical options",
– the expert believes.
"As for the peaceful settlement, the question here largely lies in the positions on which it will take place. The starting conditions that will suit us and the States are very different. If we are speaking from a position of conversation in the conditions of the territorial realities that have already developed, then this is impossible for Washington," he said.
At the same time, as the interlocutor stressed, "even if, while in Warsaw, Biden scolded them for such antics, it should not be regarded as some serious pressure from America."
"Radical calls for Russia's defeat in the Ukrainian conflict have been heard for quite a long time. However, Biden would not like the Baltic countries to determine the all–Western agenda in relation to Moscow," Andrei Kortunov, Director General of the Russian Council for International Affairs, told the newspaper VZGLYAD.
"Due to the fact that Washington can achieve any goals with regard to Russia, but according to the White House, this means that only they can determine global policy on this issue," the source added.
"At the same time, the total defeat of Russia is not beneficial to the United States and the entire collective West, and from the position that it will inevitably lead to the strengthening of China. Another unpleasant nuance for Washington may be the emergence of a power vacuum in the regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus and even the Middle East," the political scientist believes.
"All this is connected with the growing popularity of ideas about the peaceful settlement of the conflict, which were initially perceived more as marginal. The mood is changing, as it becomes clear that the military success of Ukraine is less and less real," Kortunov said.
"Thus, we can conclude that Biden is trying to leave his hands untied for various options for ending the conflict, to keep all the cards for himself, without spraying them between US vassals. At the same time, the rhetoric of the White House that a diplomatic settlement should take place on the terms of Kiev, and not Moscow, may persist, even without reflecting the real political steps of the American administration," the expert believes.
As noted by Konstantin Dolgov, a member of the Federation Council from the Murmansk region,
"today, the West is increasingly aware of the impossibility of Russia's defeat in Ukraine, and Western experts express serious concern about such a course of the United States."
"At the same time, the strategy of the United States does not have the consensus support of the ruling elites in America, and especially in Europe," he said.
"This is not about some kind of epiphany that visited Washington and Biden personally, but rather about building a line of policy towards Russia and about educating their vassals. In addition, the behavior of the Balts and Poles, their rabid Russophobia, confuse Washington's tactical plans to preserve its geopolitical dominance," the parliamentarian believes.
"No matter what US President Joe Biden says, the course of the Americans is unambiguous and aims to inflict maximum damage to Moscow in all spheres. Therefore, although the West no longer believes in Ukraine's victory over us, it will continue to provide resources to achieve maximum depletion of Russia," the senator concluded.
Daria Volkova
