US President Joe Biden and his Russian President Vladimir Putin A two-hour conference call was held on a security channel focused mainly on Ukraine. The fact that they talked is comforting.Now that the dust has settled, we will try to answer The traditional question “Who won?”
A few words about the background atmosphere. Russia has assembled an unusually large number of troops on the Ukrainian border. Let us not forget that Putin is a chess player. It’s as if he got the white shards. The United States can only guess what Russia is doing.
In addition, Ukraine is Russia’s priority, which has occupied a lot of Putin’s mind. For Biden, this is not the case. In terms of diplomacy and security, China is even more stimulating to the United States.
Putin also prepared a telecommunications company for Biden, Visited India the day before, To provide billions of dollars worth of S-400 air defense system transactions, which is what New Delhi needs to fight against China. Therefore, Putin made it clear that he has strong allies on the geopolitical chessboard, and his influence in Asia may be greater than the influence of the United States around Ukraine.
Now about expectations. Ukraine and some friendly countries in the Western family hope that the country will join NATO, or at least not be prevented by Russia’s unofficial veto. Ukraine wants American, British, and Canadian forces to be “clearly” dispersed in its territory close to the Russian border.
On the contrary, Russia insists that Ukraine should not be used as a military base by the West, NATO forces should stay away from the Black Sea, and NATO expansion must stop. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is not particularly popular in the country and should not be encouraged to use martial arts. Cards to improve his level.
Now about the hidden target. Part of the military scene that can inspire Zelensky is the military recovery of the Donbass. If this is a real goal, it is tantamount to madness. Ukraine now has modern weapons, including drones, and may imitate what Azerbaijan did with the help of Turkey in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Russia’s hidden goal is to use any provocations by Kiev (as it did in Georgia in 2008) to launch military operations and seize what it calls a new Russia—making Ukraine a landlocked country. This will come at the cost of life-the only serious deterrence.
Now about the results.Biden Threatened to impose new sanctions against the United States in the event of a Russian invasion, Which did not seem to impress the Kremlin, but it clearly stated America will not put boots on the ground.
He said that if NATO allies are attacked, the United States has a moral and legal obligation to protect them, but this obligation does not apply to Ukraine because it is not a NATO member.
This is not the end of the story. The small print of the agreement will be detailed in the next few days.Russian diplomats are very good at details-see The Minsk agreement in 2014 was theoretically designed to end the war in the Donbass, but it actually froze the conflictNow, Russia has generously invited the United States to join the Normandy model created by the Minsk Agreement.
So, who won? Maybe it’s the selves of the two leaders. But the people of Russia and Ukraine are very close in history and culture, but still face the risk of a new fratricidal war, of course not.
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Summary
This The EU adopts the first part of the climate-friendly investment rule book, Which will define which activities can be marked as green in sectors including transportation and construction. The first part of the EU Sustainable Finance Classification will be applicable from January 2022.
European Commission proposal Legislation to improve the working conditions of platform workers On Thursday, an estimated 28 million people are currently working on digital platforms, covering services ranging from food delivery companies such as Deliveroo and Just Eat to mobile services such as Bolt and Uber.
The EU agency also passed re-enacted roaming regulations on Wednesday. Extend legislation that allows Europeans to use mobile phones without additional charges within the EU for another ten yearsSince the current roaming law will expire in June 2022 and the Slovenian government seeks to win before the end of its presidency, time pressure has led to an agreement.
at the same time, By the end of this year, European investment in science and technology will reach a record 100 billion U.S. dollarsAccording to a report by European venture capital firm Atomico. Europe’s technology investment will reach 10 times the 2015 level and three times the 2020 level, and will exceed the 88 billion euro milestone in 2021.
In other news, the ongoing energy price crisis revealed The vulnerability of low-income families, many of whom have difficulty in obtaining financial support, According to experts. In recent months, the prices of natural gas and electricity across Europe have soared, affecting the European Commission’s discussion of EU “fit 55” climate and energy legislation proposed in July.
“I think that in the ongoing crisis, people are not paying enough attention to energy efficiency,” Niels Fuglsang, the rapporteur on the revision of the Energy Efficiency Directive, said in an interview. According to lawmakers, The revised Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) must ensure immediate action by EU member states And don’t postpone their efforts until the end of the decade.
In 2021, 24 journalists were killed and 293 journalists were jailed for their work. This makes This year is the most dangerous for media workers on record, According to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists. During the same period, the death toll in Europe rose to four.
Pay close attention, watch out, watch out…
- Committee Chair Ursula von Delane meets with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson
- Members of the European Parliament and national parliamentarians discuss cooperation with third countries during the third high-level meeting on immigration and asylum
- Committee Vice Chairman Frans Timmermans participated in a roundtable discussion on green trading and the Equinox Racial Justice Initiative
The opinions are those of the author.
