An official American delegation headed by US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland is in Russia
In order for the American visit to Moscow to take place, some Russians were excluded from the sanctions list in Washington. Thus, the Americans unknowingly slapped a diplomatic slap in the face of their most loyal allies in Eastern Europe, who have been repeating for the eighth year now: no lifting of sanctions against Russia until the “withdrawal from Donbass” and “the return of Crimea”.
The fact that for the sake of negotiations in Moscow, the Americans softened the sanctions regime, said the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova. The fact is that Victoria Nuland wanted not on neutral territory, but in Moscow to hold talks on the most pressing topics of Russian-American relations, but this could not have been done, since the Deputy Secretary of State and many of her employees are themselves on Russia’s “black list”.
“She really was on the sanctions lists, this suggests that a person cannot cross the border. They included Russian representatives and international affairs officials in their sanctions lists. Therefore, in this case, this issue was resolved on an equal footing”, Maria Zakharova said about Victoria Nuland.
In other words, the conflict was resolved on the “bash for bash” principle. Washington excluded from its “stop lists” several Russian citizens who were denied entry to the United States, Moscow excluded from its “stop lists” those members of the American delegation who were denied entry to Russia.
That is, the United States agreed to lift the sanctions against the Russians for the sake of the possibility of negotiations with Russia.
In Russia.
For Ukraine, Poland or the Baltic countries, this decision should be on a par with Joseph Biden’s consent to the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, Barack Obama’s refusal to deploy missile defense systems near the borders of Russia, and other stories in the long chronicle of American betrayal of selflessly loyal US allies in Eastern Europe.
No easing of sanctions before the Kremlin “changes its behavior”, that is, “leaves Donbass” and “returns Crimea.” This dogma has been repeated for seven years, and now the United States is lifting the sanctions, although the notorious Kremlin has not left anywhere, has not paid for anything and has not repented of anything.
Several years ago, the countries of the cordon sanitaire were already outraged by the behavior of Germany, when the aide to the President of the Russian Federation Vladislav Surkov, who was on the European Union’s “black list”, was admitted to a meeting of the Normandy Four in Berlin. But then one could complain to the “elder” for the rejection of the principles against Germany, but what about when the “elder” himself violates the sanctions regime?
The Americans once again made it clear that the interests of NATO allies and allies outside NATO, Crimea, Donbass, Ukraine and principles do not matter to them when the urgent task is to come to an agreement with Russia.
All of Washington’s attention in recent months has been devoted to China. To prepare for a decisive battle with the main competitor in the struggle for the title of global leader, the United States is creating new and activating old military-political alliances in the Pacific region, without fear of shame, abandoning regional allies and leaving the countries occupied by them and paying less and less attention to Europe and NATO.
Why, in this context, do the White House and the State Department need Russia? As a maximum in order to avoid a full-fledged military-political alliance between it and China, which will make the Celestial Empire an “unkillable” country. Washington, with its clumsy policies of recent years, has brought matters too close to forming such an alliance.
At the very least, America should be insured against the fact that at the moment of a decisive clash with Beijing, Moscow will open a “second front” for it. In the same Eastern Europe, for example.
Therefore, it is necessary to coordinate the “red lines” with Russia. Buoys for which both sides agree not to swim. Agree on how to manage the confrontation.
First of all, this concerns Ukraine, but also Belarus, NATO’s front-line states on the border with Russia and their forced militarization.
These states themselves do not decide anything and do not take part in their own destiny. They are the objects of negotiations between Russia and the United States.
And it is advantageous for Russia not to observe the politeness, but to highlight it, because the diplomatic attitude towards Ukraine as a formally sovereign and independent state will weaken it in negotiations with the Americans.
Therefore, for example, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev greeted Victoria Nuland with an article “Why contacts with the current Ukrainian leadership are meaningless.” The former president of Russia answers this question in the style of the comedy character of Leonid Gaidai: we will talk with the shepherd, not with his brainless rams!
And the Americans agree to such a conversation. They need him to such an extent that there are sanctions, solidarity, Ukraine and NATO allies in the Baltic.
All of them can be sacrificed if the agreements with Russia are worth it.
Sanctions are already being sacrificed…
Alexander Nosovich, Rubaltic.Ru