Business

France calls for reform of Europe’s security order in the face of threats from Russia

France has called for a reform of Europe’s security framework, warning that it has become “almost obsolete” and risks allowing Russia to become a permanent threat on the continent even if Vladimir Putin are not Invasion of Ukraine.

Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Foreign Minister, said in an interview that “there are no more rules” governing Europe’s security and stability because arms control treaties cover everything. , from mid-range nuclear missiles to transparency about military force movements that have become “almost obsolete or irrelevant”.

He said Russia must realize that the EU has its own security concerns, as Putin wants to implement an unacceptable form of “partial sovereignty” over its neighbors and that deal. is necessary to restore long-term stability.

Putin “could choose to turn Russia into a destabilizing power. . . that could mean a permanent strategy of long-term tension, or he could choose to be an agent, a partner, in a new stable and secure European order,” he said. with the Financial Times. “It was his choice. Indeed, it is he who has to decide.”

Russia has massed more than 135,000 Russian troops on Ukraine’s border, raising the biggest threat of conflict in Europe in decades, although Moscow insists it has no plans to invade.

In diplomatic exchanges aimed at de-escalating tensions, Putin asked NATO to withdraw its forces from Eastern Europe and pledged never to recognize Ukraine. The West considers these demands unacceptable, says Kyiv is entitled to make her own decisions, but is trying to find common ground with Moscow on issues like arms control.

“While Russia has a need for stability, for reassurance, there is also a need for stability and reassurance on our part,” Le Drian said. “Europe needs guarantees of security and stability. We are ready to talk about it, about everything. ”

Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron in Moscow on February 7 © Thibault Camus / Pool / Reuters

Le Drian, foreign minister since the start of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency in 2017 and previously defense minister under President François Hollande, insists that there is no difference with the US in terms of its threat assessment. threat from Russia.

He outlined a three-stage approach to defuse the crisis: the verified withdrawal of Russian forces from the Ukrainian border; resumption of negotiations on the Minsk accords to settle the war between Moscow-backed separatists and Kyiv in the Donbas region, eastern Ukraine; and a new European security framework.

Le Drian said he cautiously welcomed “incentives” about troop withdrawals and diplomatic moves from the Kremlin. However, he said he remained “vigilant” about Russia’s military build-up and whether more troops would return to base after the exercises.

“If those signs are verified, it is a small start. But we will need to see how the exercises in Belarus end, for example, how the exercises in the Black Sea and near the Ukrainian border end. All of that is part of de-escalation,” he said.

“I am like Saint Thomas, I want to believe, but we need to see the actual action. . . We need to make sure that this is not a rotation but a withdrawal.”

Le Drian said no one disputes the importance of the Minsk accords and the so-called Normandy form of negotiations – involving France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine – to try to end the Donbas war.

After years of stagnation by Moscow and Kyiv, Le Drian said “both sides have the political will to resolve this situation”. He said: “There was a meeting [in Berlin] little progress was made with the diplomatic advisers, but they decided to meet again. So the process is still there, and we need to restore it to its full strength.”

If Putin approved the independence of the two Donbas states, according to a Russian Parliament resolution that took effect this week, it would look like “an unarmed invasion” of Ukraine and would “violently violate”. violated the Minsk agreements,” Le Drian said. that Putin had assured Macron that he had no intention of acting on the resolution. Mr. Le Drian declined on whether such a move by Russia would trigger Western economic sanctions.

Macron has play an important part in recent Western diplomatic efforts to persuade Putin to step back from the brink of war. The two met in Moscow for talks so long that Putin said the French president “tortured” him for nearly six hours.

Emmanuel Macron, second right, and Jean-Yves Le Drian, left, meet Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, former president of Mali, inside a military vehicle in 2017 © Christophe Petit Tesson / Pool / AFP / Getty

Since his election in 2017, Macron has flirted with Putin, claiming that Russia is a European power with “legitimate” security concerns, and has been accused by some of his European partners of being too lenient. gentle with the Russian leader.

Le Drian insists that Macron’s approach has been vindicated because he has sought to establish a combination of toughness and dialogue with Putin while maintaining the unity of the European and American allies. He acknowledged that “perhaps there was doubt” in Europe, including the Baltic states, of the value of Macron’s lack of coordination in launching a strategic dialogue with Putin initially in 2019.

“But it’s very flawed,” Le Drian emphasized. “Now everyone is talking to Putin.”

“We need to talk to Russia, even if it’s difficult, very demanding, exhausting,” Macron said. . . because he is a neighbor, has many children and he has no intention of moving out”.

Nato, which began reviewing the strategy after Macron accused it of being “brain dead” in 2019, emerged stronger from the crisis as it united in the face of the threat from Russia. “It’s a bit of a paradox, because [Putin] tried to divide us. . . That failed and didn’t happen.”

France is dealing with other Russia-related issues in the western African state of Mali, where the ruling military junta has hired the Russian group of Wagner mercenaries and is pushing back against French troops deployed since 2013 to fight Islamist insurgents in the Sahel. Le Drian rejected Putin’s assertion that the Kremlin was unaware of Wagner’s activities.

“I cannot understand how President Putin could not have known about this situation because they were former Russian soldiers, transported by Russian planes and using Russian weapons,” he said. “Given the amount of intelligence available to President Putin and his proximity to Chief Wagner. . . one must conclude that he knows. He said he didn’t, but I don’t believe him.”

Source link

news7h

News7h: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button
Immediate Peak