MOSCOW -

From the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz is heading directly to Moscow, in one of the fierce diplomatic attempts to ease tension between Russia and the West.

Despite talking about a few days that separate the world from the start of a Russian military attack against Ukraine, the West continues its diplomatic activity with Moscow, but without results so far.

Schultz's meetings come after the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Moscow, then the visit of British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, and the phone conversations of Presidents Putin-Biden that followed.

Macron (left) and Putin's meeting in Moscow revealed a wide gap between Russia and the West (Reuters)

vicious circle

Until now, all these shuttle moves have not succeeded in causing any penetration in the solid wall of the Russian-Western contrast, except that they have repeated the same positions for both parties.

Even the circumstances and circumstances of the meetings themselves revealed the existence of a wide gap between Western visitors to Moscow and the Kremlin.

The American Economist magazine reported that the British Foreign Secretary's visit to Moscow was punctuated by insults by her Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, starting with his description of the talks between them as "a deaf dialogue", and ending with him leaving the meeting with her and leaving her alone in front of the microphone, the magazine said.

The French president's visit was also not without attempts to put it in the context of protocol disputes, after Macron refused to conduct a coronavirus test during his recent visit to Moscow to prevent the Russians from getting their hands on his DNA, according to French media outlets quoting the president's escorts.

While the Kremlin confirmed that Macron was kept away from Putin during the talks, to maintain a healthy distance after the Elysee master refused to undergo a coronavirus test in Russia before their meeting.


Negotiations amid escalation

Between this and that, came Saturday's call between Putin and Biden.

According to the White House, Biden "clearly communicated to Putin about the consequences for Russia of an escalation over Ukraine."

As for the Kremlin statement, he said, "Biden discussed with Putin Moscow's concerns, but those that were not related to the main Russian proposals for security guarantees. As was also expected, Biden reminded of anti-Russian sanctions due to the situation in Ukraine, but there was no confirmation on this issue." .

And the statements of the Russian President's aide, Yuri Ushakov, reinforced the ineffectiveness of diplomatic moves, by saying that the conversation between the leaders of the two countries took place in an atmosphere of unprecedented hysteria by US officials over the alleged imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.

That is why, Ushakov said, the US side requested a conversation on Saturday, even though Moscow was planning to hold it on Monday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has recently escalated its rhetoric uncharacteristically.

A new statement accused Western countries and foreign media of "colluding to create an artificial escalation around Ukraine, through massive and coordinated filling of misinformation."

And that "the hysteria in the White House revealed more than ever the Anglo-Saxon need for war."

Until the twentieth of this month, the margin will be left open to diplomatic means to resolve the escalating crisis between Russia and the West, if the White House's expectations of a Russian attack on Ukraine on this date are true.

A previous meeting brought together Putin (right) and Biden, and Russian analysts say that their last call came to put pressure on Russia (Getty Images)

The pressure is continuous

An expert at the American Studies Institute, Yuri Rogilov, believes that the phone call between Presidents Putin and Biden did not come as a conciliatory step, but rather to put pressure on Moscow, and at the same time, an attempt to assess Russia's readiness to start "good faith" negotiations on Ukraine.

Rogilov added that opportunities for dialogue and understandings were available before things went to the way they are now, even if the West understood Russia's concerns about Ukraine's accession to NATO, or its responses to Russian proposals regarding security guarantees included something new that could be built upon.

Despite that, the Russian expert confirms that Moscow will not be the party that will fire the first shot, expressing his belief that the West is betting on the highest levels of pressure in order for Russia to accept the fait accompli and accept the new geopolitical data, which means accepting NATO’s expansion towards the east, and using Ukraine as a scarecrow for national security Russian.

In parallel, Rogilov says that Moscow will not stand idly by regarding military action against the Donbass, stressing that Kiev itself has become in a dilemma set up by the West, so that it cannot advance in fear of a violent Russian reaction, nor retreat before public opinion after the media campaign it practiced over the years. The latter under the banner of the territorial integrity of Ukraine.


All possibilities are available

For his part, Dmitriy Kim, a researcher in international affairs, explained that the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Moscow will carry advanced proposals from Ukraine and the West, and more precisely - from the West regarding Ukraine.

But it seems from the Kremlin’s reaction to Macron’s proposals and the collective response of the West, which the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected, that Moscow will not accept the German chancellor’s message if it does not include a proper acceptance of the Russian proposals that include Ukraine not taking military action against the Donbas, according to Kim’s assessment?

The researcher added to Al Jazeera Net, that this means entering into a radical escalation phase starting on February 16, with which Russian patience will end, and Moscow will move to the principle of reciprocity on any escalation steps, whatever their form, especially after it has passed the stage of the dangerous repercussions of Western sanctions. and provided alternatives to mitigate its effects.