Russian President Vladimir Putin with permanent members of the Russian Security Council today. Photo: Kremlin
Can China act as a peacemaker?
Moscow/Washington/Beijing: As Russian President Vladimir Putin today accused the USA and NATO of not addressing Russia’s concerns, American President Joe Biden reiterated commitment to Europe’s energy security in case of Russian invasion of Ukraine. The USA and European Union issued a joint statement declaring, “We are jointly committed to Europe’s energy security and sustainability…We also share the objective of ensuring the energy security of Ukraine and the progressive integration of Ukraine with the EU gas and electricity markets.”
Putin, who had a telephonic conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron today, though continued to underplay any prospect of attacking Ukraine and said the Russian side would carefully study the written responses to the draft agreements on security guarantees received from the United States and NATO on January 26, 2022, after which it would decide on further action. He however, spilled beans saying that the US and NATO responses did not address Russia’s fundamental concerns such as stopping NATO expansion, not deploying assault weapons near Russia’s borders, or rolling NATO’s military capacity and infrastructure in Europe back to where they were in 1997 when the NATO-Russia Founding Act was signed.
“The key question on the United States and its allies’ plans to follow the principle of the indivisibility of security was ignored. This principle is enshrined in the OSCE and NATO-Russia basic documents and stipulates that no one should strengthen their security at the expense of the security of other countries,” Kremlin stated in Moscow today.
With heightened tension with Russia, Biden today signed a joint statement with European Union President Ursula von der Leyen asserting that the United States and the EU were working jointly towards continued, sufficient, and timely supply of natural gas to the EU from diverse sources across the globe to avoid supply shocks, including those that could result from a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The United States is already the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU. We are collaborating with governments and market operators on supply of additional volumes of natural gas to Europe from diverse sources across the globe…We intend to work together, in close collaboration with EU Member States, on LNG supplies for security of supply and contingency planning. We will also exchange views on the role of storage in security of supply,” the joint statement mentioned.
Already Biden had said on January 25, 2022 that if Russia were to move in with all those forces it had deployed on the Russia-Ukraine border, “it’d be the largest invasion since World War II. It would change the world.”
Also read:Ukraine crisis: Diplomacy or conflict – Choice is yours, US tells Russia
On January 27, 2022, Biden had spoken to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, reaffirming the readiness of the United States along with its allies and partners to respond decisively if Russia invaded Ukraine. On the very same day, the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman discussed among other things, the US and NATO written responses to Russia with NATO Deputy Secr etary General Mircea Geoana, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Secretary General Helga Schmid, European External Action Service (EEAS) Secretary General Stefano Sannino and, representing the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Paweł Jabłoński. They agreed on the importance of continued close coordination and unity in the face of Russia’s unprovoked military buildup on Ukraine’s borders.
Meanwhile, when discussing the situation in Ukraine with Macron, Putin emphasised the importance of Kiev’s strict compliance with the provisions of the Minsk Package of Measures and other agreements, primarily on establishing a direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk and legalising the special status of Donbass. Based on the outcome of the meeting of political advisers to the leaders of the Normandy four countries held in Paris on January 26, the parties reaffirmed their commitment to continuing working in this format.
Incidentally, Biden had relayed to Ukraine President Zelenskyy yesterday the United States’ support for conflict resolution efforts in the Normandy Format, expressing his hope that the sides’ recommitment on January 26 to the terms of the July 2020 ceasefire will help decrease tensions and advance the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.
In the meantime, China – seen as an important ally of Russia, today responded to a reported statement by the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, and claimed that to solve the Ukrainian issue, it was necessary to return to the starting point of the Minsk-2 agreement, which is endorsed by the UN Security Council. “As a fundamental political document recognized by all sides, the agreement should be earnestly implemented. China will support all efforts in keeping with the direction and spirit of this agreement. In the meantime, we call on all sides to stay cool-headed and avoid doing things that will escalate the tensions and hype up the crisis,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing today.
Nuland had reportedly called on Beijing yesterday to use its influence with Moscow to urge a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis. “Under the current circumstances, we call on all relevant parties to ease the tension as much as possible, avoid escalation of the situation, stop stirring up troubles and inciting opposition and confrontation,” Lijian said.
– global bihari bureau
