Europe seems too divided to form a united front against Russia in the Ukraine crisis

US President Joe Biden believes that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent. In Berlin, the US Secretary of State tried to unite his European colleagues.

It is now up to Putin. This, in short, was the gist of the message after yesterday’s summit in Berlin. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken spoke with his German, British and French counterparts about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. Next, Blinken and his German colleague Annalena Birbock tried to show that the United States and Europe are united against Russia.

Earlier this week detect the financial times That EU member states disagree about what minimum European sanctions should be. A source involved in the informal consultations in Paris said: “Some EU countries believe that there is only ‘aggression’ in an almost complete invasion, and others want to include all kinds of mixed measures.”

The United States warned last week that Russia would do so pseudo-science-Preparing for surgery. In this case, Russian agents will carry out an attack on pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, after which Moscow points to the Ukrainian government in Kiev as the guilty party. This would give Russia an excuse to invade eastern Ukraine to “protect” the pro-Russian rebels there.

So Blinken’s public mission in Berlin was clear: to show unity. He stressed that American and European allies have agreed on a full range of responses to all kinds of attacks that Russia has in its “manual.” “We’ve been very clear about this,” Blinken said. “Once Russian forces cross the border to carry out new aggressive actions against Ukraine, there will be a swift and united response from the United States and our allies and partners.”

lonliness

It is highly doubtful whether Putin liked the joint work. The German minister was particularly distinguished in generalities. It was also remarkable that the duo did not once specifically mention potential penalties. They have just said that it has very serious “economic, political and strategic consequences”.

Germany itself is under great pressure from the United States not to operate the controversial Nordstream 2 gas pipeline if Russia does indeed attack Ukraine. The pipeline transports gas directly from Russia to Europe, bypassing Ukraine. For example, Russia can turn off heating in Ukraine without losing revenue from gas sales to the European Union. German government parties disagree about what to do with Nordstream 2, but so far there has been no public friction.

UK aid to Ukraine

Germany, the world’s fourth largest arms exporter, is refusing to provide the country with defensive weapons despite increasingly fierce pleas from Ukraine. Meanwhile, Britain sent anti-tank weapons to Ukraine on Tuesday to help the country fend off a possible Russian invasion. On Wednesday, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia also received permission from Washington to transfer US-made weapons to Ukraine. These are anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles that can be fired by individual soldiers. The United States has been sending weapons to Ukraine for some time.

Today Blinkin will speak with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva. According to him, it should then become clear whether there is still a diplomatic way out of the crisis. “We’ve made clear what the options are,” Blinken says. On the one hand, dialogue and diplomacy, on the other hand, conflict and consequences. But in the end, it is up to Putin to decide which path to take.”