Cyrille Bret: "European support for Ukraine's integrity has been flawless"

Audio 04:16

Polish President Andrzej Duda, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin on February 8, 2022. REUTERS - POOL

Text by: Jeanne Bartoli

3 mins

Cyrille Bret, associate researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute, answers RFI's questions on the European Union's response to the Ukrainian crisis and on negotiations with Russia. 

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RFI: Europe is closing ranks but we have trouble understanding European strategy.

Emmanuel Macron goes alone to Moscow and Kiev.

We do not know very well finally under which cap.

The German Chancellor will visit both countries next week.

Is the Franco-German couple acting in concert and above all is it audible?

Cyrille Bret, associate researcher at the J. Delors Institute:

It acts in concert, that's obvious.

A division of labor operates between the two countries, this has always been the case since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis in 2014. Emmanuel Macron has the military credibility and the continental stature as well as the will to leave the channels of dialogue open with Moscow while

Germany manages dialogue with the United States and loyalty to NATO

.

We see that the initiatives that have been taken are a success.

The Europeans are finally audible in this discussion, which for the moment involved only two extra-European powers: the United States and Russia.

Are the Europeans regaining control of the Americans or is there real consultation with Washington?

They regain control against the Americans, who held them "at the end of the line" for three weeks of fruitless bilateral discussions with Moscow.

It was high time, the United States alone cannot maintain the security architecture in Europe, quite simply because they have neither the same aims, nor the same objectives, nor the same constraints as the Europeans.

The Europeans have Russia as a roommate, next door neighbor.

The United States has neither trade nor geographical proximity to Russia.

They can therefore defend

extremely tough positions

without great difficulty .

The Europeans have to live with Russia, when it comes to the Poles and the Baltics, a few hundred kilometers away... A position which denounces the risk of war every morning is not livable for the Europeans.

We are at the end of a diplomatic sequence.

For the moment, no concrete announcement, no firm commitments… Is Russia ready to make concessions, as Vladimir Putin said?

She needs it.

It does not have the material means, not the military means and certainly not the diplomatic resources to occupy Ukraine.

Moreover, it does not need to occupy Ukraine, since it has already achieved its goal, which is to discredit the Ukrainian state and render it incapable of joining any new international organization, be it NATO or the European Union.

Today,

the Europeans are opening a new channel of discussion with Russia

.

The demanding countries - Poland, the Baltics, Germany - and the countries that are quicker and more inclined to dialogue, France in particular, offer Russia a means of deescalating.

Then, it is necessary that Russia sees its interest there.

For more than two months now, it has kept Europeans in suspense.

It must now find the gains from this de-escalation and I think this is the start of a process that will be quite long,

which began the day before yesterday in Moscow

.

Ukraine remains reserved, even worried about the concessions that could be asked of it.

Wouldn't the Ukrainians be the big losers in these negotiations?

Currently not.

Emmanuel Macron's symbolic gesture of going directly from Moscow to Kiev shows this.

The courage of the Ukrainian authorities has been hailed on several occasions.

There is therefore no question of compromising on the essentials.

And if concessions have to be made, they will necessarily be in the area of ​​what is acceptable to Ukraine.

Under no circumstances can Europeans be satisfied with a Ukraine whose sovereignty is mutilated.

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