In order to ease the situation in Ukraine, many European countries have recently launched intensive diplomacy with Russia and Ukraine. However, while many European countries are trying to cool the situation by promoting dialogue, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization continue to play up the risk of war between Russia and Ukraine.
There was no breakthrough in the Quartet talks
Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France held a new round of "Normandy model" four-way talks in the German capital Berlin on the 10th, trying to promote the implementation of the new Minsk agreement reached in 2015. After about 9 hours of talks, the russian and Ukrainian deputies each announced to the outside world that no breakthrough had been made in the talks.
Dmitry Kozak, a representative of the Russian side and deputy director of the Office of the Russian President, said at a press conference that Russia and Ukraine have different interpretations of the new Minsk agreement, and their positions cannot be coordinated, and "we have not overcome this."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the Ukrainian side of trying to "rewrite" the new Minsk agreement on the same day, supporting only the part that is most favorable to the Ukrainian side.
Andri Yermak, a representative of the Ukrainian side and director of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said that there was no breakthrough in the talks, but the two sides agreed to maintain dialogue.
Yermak said the Normandy model quartet was a "useful and efficient platform." "I hope we can meet again soon and continue consultations." Everyone is determined to achieve results. ”
In order to resolve the conflict between government forces and civilian armed forces in eastern Ukraine, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France launched consultations in Normandy, France, in 2014 to create the "Normandy model". The quartet held several summits and consultations at different levels under this mechanism, and signed the new Minsk agreement in February 2015 during talks in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, to reach agreement on a ceasefire and political arrangements in the Eastern Region. However, the new Minsk agreement has not been effectively implemented, and small-scale firefights in the Wudong region still occur from time to time.
Due to the large differences between the parties, the "Normandy model" summit was once stalled. Since the beginning of this year, the representatives of the four parties have held talks in Paris and Berlin, the capital of France, to pave the way for the summit to be held again.
The Russian and British foreign ministers dispersed unhappily
On the day of the quadripartite talks, Lavrov met with visiting British Foreign Secretary Tras in Moscow, the capital of Russia, to launch a heated debate on the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border. This was the first meeting between the russian and British foreign ministers in more than four years, and the result seemed to be unhappy.
According to the Associated Press, during the talks, Terrass again demanded that the Russian side withdraw the troops deployed along the Russian-Ukrainian border, warning that Russia would trigger "serious consequences and costs" if it attacked Ukraine. Lavrov dismissed the West's assertion that Russia's presence on the border was "thorough propaganda," accusing the West of increasing its troops in eastern Europe while unreasonably demanding Russia's withdrawal.
The atmosphere at the press conference after the meeting was cold. Lavrov expressed disappointment that the British side ignored the Russian claims and accused Western politicians of fanning the flames in the situation in Ukraine for their own interests.
The Russian and Belarusian armies launched a joint military exercise in Belarus on the 10th. On the same day, the British Air Force transported about 350 soldiers to Poland. Previously, britain supplied weapons such as anti-tank missiles to Ukraine, the United States sent troops to places such as Poland and Romania, and NATO also increased military deployments to eastern Europe.
Lavrov said Russia would withdraw its troops to the exercise as originally planned after the joint military exercises with Belarus, but then the West would boast that they forced Russia to do so.
The deterioration of Russian-Ukrainian relations has recently accelerated, with the two sides deploying a large number of military personnel and weapons and equipment in the border areas between the two countries.
The U.S.-British warning continues to add to the fire
Since the end of last year, the United States and NATO have continued to play up the risk of war between Russia and Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg and British Prime Minister Johnson said after meeting with British Prime Minister Johnson at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on the 10th that "the number of Russian troops is increasing" and NATO "must prepare for the worst.".
Johnson claimed that Russia's move to deploy troops near ukraine's border posed "one of the greatest threats" to European security in recent years, and that the West must deal with Russia with "sanctions, military and diplomacy".
In an interview with NBC News on the 10th, US President Biden once again warned US citizens to leave Ukraine as soon as possible, claiming that the situation between Russia and Ukraine "may quickly get out of control."
The U.S. State Department also issued a warning to U.S. citizens again on the same day to "leave Ukraine."
European countries, fearing that a military conflict could trigger a series of unbearable consequences for Europe, advocate dialogue to ease tensions. Recently, political leaders from many European countries, including Leaders of Germany and France, have frequently visited the country and actively mediated the crisis in Ukraine.
Agence France-Presse commented that when European leaders launched shuttle diplomacy in an attempt to cool down the situation in Russia and Ukraine, Biden's statement was clearly "adding a fire" to the tension.
Gao Jie (Xinhua News Agency)
Source: Tonight's newspaper