Conflict with Russia: It's about the self-assertion of the EU

It may be about war and peace in Europe when talks between the United States and Russia begin in Geneva on Monday.

But Europe is not at the table.

If it were up to the Russian leadership, they would agree with the Americans over the heads of the Europeans on a new security order for the entire continent.

The threatening backdrop that the Kremlin created with the deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine should move Washington to talk. By publishing confidential correspondence, Moscow has given the Europeans on undiplomatic tour at the same time to understand that it is no longer interested in further talks with them about the war in Ukraine.

Now Berlin, Paris and Brussels are trying hectic diplomatic initiatives to get a foot in the door again.

That's right: there are only chances of success if such initiatives are based on a realistic perception of the Russian regime.

The Kremlin is interested in more than Ukraine.

For him it is the scene of a larger-scale confrontation with the West.

It is now not about mediating a conflict somewhere in Eastern Europe, but about the self-assertion of the EU against an aggressive dictatorship.