Ukraine is not very lucky with foreign ministers. The reason is that this post itself provokes the person who occupies it to speak out against Russia as harshly and uncompromisingly as possible, because in Ukraine to this day they consider the anti-Russian trend to be an object of import in demand in the West. Now this is far from the case, but Ukrainians prefer to think that the apparent decrease in interest in anti-Russian rhetoric from Kiev is just a fleeting whim of windy partners, but the global order to denounce and defame Russia remains the same.
The current head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has a proprietary, albeit fraudulent, trick. He likes to put Moscow in its place when it allegedly interferes in the internal affairs of his country. Even now, he could not restrain himself and decided to perform an energetic figure of denial addressed to Moscow. It turned out amusing, although Kuleba's intentions, as always, were the most serious. And he took an angry and indignant tone in order to demonstrate his contempt to the addressee.
But, it seems, the idea failed, because our hero this time resorted to a fraudulent trick. Here is how it was. Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian president, giving an interview to French documentary filmmakers, said: “Ukraine's accession to NATO would be the worst scenario. This is a scenario that goes beyond the red lines of Russia's national interests. This is the scenario that could force Russia to take active measures to ensure its own security. "
In general, the position, which has been expressed more than once at the highest level, is justified and logical. The Western military-political bloc, if Ukraine became its member, would come close to the Russian border on yet another, this time a very extensive area. This is a direct threat to the security of our country. The Ukrainian minister answered almost immediately, as if he was just waiting for an excuse to cling to something. The essence of his proud rebuke is unpretentious, although it smacks of rudeness, usual for Ukrainian officials. “Ukraine is not interested in Moscow’s opinion on the country's accession to NATO,” he wrote on his Twitter page. According to Kuleba, Russia does not have the right to vote on the issue of Ukraine's membership. Let me disagree: everyone has the right to have this or that opinion on any occasion.
But it’s not even the stupid rhetoric. The problem is that Moscow is not interested in Kuleba's opinion either. Peskov did not address Kiev at all. His audience is a French audience. France is known to be a member of the North Atlantic Alliance.
The meaning of his words is to reason with the bloc, indicating that Russia will take retaliatory measures if the red lines are violated. This is a form of absentee dialogue with NATO member countries, in which Ukraine was definitely not invited to participate. Euro-Atlantic integration, which the current Ukrainian leadership dreams of, is hampered by the West, its political and military structures. Moreover, on October 5, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg once again announced that the entry of Georgia and Ukraine would take place, but not soon. By this, he made it clear that determining the timing lies outside the purview of the two post-Soviet countries.
That is, there is nothing to talk about with them at all. The only interlocutor who is able to hear the warning and draw conclusions from it is the NATO leadership, to which Peskov turned. So Kuleba ran into the meeting room, where he was not even expected, the presence of the Ukrainian minister there is utter absurdity and nonsense, since what is the point of talking with a character on which almost nothing depends. Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, had something like this in mind when he published an article in the Kommersant newspaper last week "Why contacts with the current Ukrainian leadership are meaningless."
Feint Kuleby rhymes very well with the practice of self-consecrations, who are ordained clergymen of their own free will, and not according to the church order.
This is generally a well-known Ukrainian trick - to start lecturing or denouncing the Kremlin in a regime of absent interaction, while pretending that every enlightening word or angry invective will be heard by Moscow and will cause spiritual trepidation in the enlightened person.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.