At Putin's inauguration of the Russian president, it was not Putin who was busiest, but the United States and the European Union. According to informed sources, a few days before President Putin's inauguration, the United States sent representatives to Europe to lobby in an attempt to persuade other countries to abandon the idea of participating in Putin's inauguration. Although the vast majority of European countries have followed in the footsteps of the United States, others have chosen a different position from the United States, and the presence of France at Putin's inauguration ceremony has made the United States lose face.
There is no doubt that the United States is indeed one of the biggest beneficiaries in this Russia-Ukraine conflict. The war brokered by Biden and von der Leyen not only successfully dragged Russia into the water, pulled Russia from moving forward, and dismembered Russia, but also further intensified the contradictions between Russia and Europe, plunged Europe into huge internal friction, and became a stepping stone for the United States. The United States has not only made a lot of money from this war, but has also achieved the goal of firmly "uniting" Europe by its side.
However, such a trivial matter of whether or not to attend Putin's inauguration ceremony has made the United States lose face, exposing that the United States' plan to unite with Europe to resist Russia is actually a joke, and cracks have long appeared within the European Union. It has been learned that although the EU has made a strong stance and resolutely opposes EU countries participating in Putin's inauguration, this position has been refuted by opponents. Some countries have proved with practical actions that although they are not supporters of Russia, they do not want to be the real enemies of Russia.
Slovakia, for example, believes that state-to-state exchanges should be "magnificent", that it should be represented as a chair out of courtesy, and that there is no need for the EU to be hostile to Russia. Hungary, for example, believes that the EU is the EU, and where does the United States have the power to dictate here, and then completely ignored the statements of the United States and attended the inauguration. And the most surprising thing is that France, which was the most vocal before, and even threatened to send troops to aid Ukraine, did not listen to the United States this time and sent a representative to appear at the scene of Putin's inauguration.
There are different opinions about the French representative's participation in Putin's inauguration. First of all, France does not accept the United States from the bottom of its heart, and the more the United States oversteps its powers, the more France will have to go against the grain in order to prove that it is the boss of Europe. Some people also think that Macron has other intentions, although he has always been wary of Russia and Putin, but he does not want to completely cut off the "relationship" with the other party, and only by maintaining contacts can he have a better insight into the dynamics of the other party.
In general, only die-hard followers of the United States, such as Britain and Germany, firmly refused to attend Putin's inauguration in the first place. At the same time, there are also some small and weak countries that choose to ignore it outright or send congratulatory letters instead, because of the power of the United States. But in any case, the United States is soberly aware that its position in the EU has never been as responsive as it thinks.
It is worth mentioning that, in fact, what China said during its recent visit to France was also promoting the "awakening" of European countries. On the occasion of China's visit to France, China advocated a global ceasefire and an end to hostilities during the Paris Olympics. Not only that, China also calls on all parties to resume contacts and dialogues, build trust between multiple parties little by little, and choose an appropriate time to facilitate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. I have to say that China's remarks have made European countries soberly aware that they must engage with Russia, and that the only way to solve the Russia-Ukraine issue is through negotiations.