Since they were committed to themselves, the United States consults Europeans on discussions about Ukraine and the security of the continent. But France wants the EU to play a more important role.
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The United States has stopped hammering, on the sidelines of the discussions initiated with Russia on the security of the continent: “Nothing will be decided on Europe without Europe.” In fact, the promise of The Biden administration has been accompanied by a real effort of continental allies consultations, concerned about being put away at the request of Vladimir Putin. The exchanges organized in recent weeks seem, however, to touch their limits, at least seen from Paris and Berlin.
Before seeing the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, Geneva (Switzerland), Friday 21 January, Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, was in Berlin, Thursday, to meet his German counterparts, Annalya Baerbock , and French, Jean-Yves Le Drian, as well as the British Deputy Foreign Minister, James Cleverly. “Current consultations consist of dealing with the Russians, but we want a real coordination, pre-negotiations, now that we enter the hard, says a French diplomat, it is no longer a bilateral subject Russo -Merican. “
On the merits, if Americans and Europeans reject the essence of Russian applications, including the Gel of the Atlantic Alliance Enlargement (NATO), the differences in approach are felt in three main areas: The reality of threats to Ukraine, the attitude to adopt in the event of climbing and the sensitive question of brandished sanctions to deter Russia from attacking.
Thus, France as Germany continue to be perplexed against the alarmism of the United States and the United Kingdom, which consider that an attack in Ukraine would be imminent, in view of the deployment of Russian forces. borders of the country. “We see the same number of trucks, tanks, staff. We observed the same movements, but we can not deduct from all that an offensive is imminent, observes with the Elysee. Maybe Let our British and American allies have information that allows them to say that the offensive is imminent. But in this case, it must be shared. “According to the President of the President, a number of indicators of An attack would be “not visible” at this point, such as the transport of troops or the routing of fuels.
“We need clarity”
In this context, the French Presidency fears an unweighted slippage: “Do not let settle a context of volatility in which, in the end, an accident is too quickly arrived, and where we find ourselves in A self-based situation “, warns this source.
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