Expectations from the last meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States, in my opinion, were initially too high, not even so – they were overheated
And the reason for this, first of all, is the “pre-war” hysteria that was unleashed by the American media, which for a month asserted that Russia was about to attack Ukraine.
Naturally, nothing of the kind happened. And if Kiev itself does not get involved in some kind of adventure in the Donbass, trying to implement some kind of power scenario, it will not happen. In fact, the Russian side has repeatedly stated this, only for the time being in Washington they preferred not to hear it.
Now, apparently, they did hear it, and Jake Sullivan, who was present at the meeting (while remaining behind the scenes), even stated that the United States did not believe that Russia had decided to attack Ukraine. According to the aide to the Russian leader, Yuri Ushakov, during the talks between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden “there was not even a talk” about the possibility of sending Russian troops to storm Kiev, but there was a reminder from the Russian president about the danger of the collapse of the Minsk agreements and the crossing of the “red lines” outlined by Moscow.
Putin once again reminded his American counterpart that the further advancement of NATO to the East and / or the deployment of offensive weapons in Ukraine and the creation on its territory of the military and intelligence infrastructure of some member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance will be viewed by the Russian leadership as a direct and immediate threat to national security, which , in turn, will entail a number of retaliatory actions from Moscow.
However, all this was voiced earlier. But Putin did not have the task of surprising his opponent with unexpected proposals. It was not without reason that a few hours before the meeting he called the upcoming negotiations a “protocol event.” That is, something more ceremonial than truly fateful. As such, they, in fact, came out.
Already at the very beginning, in the first 24 seconds shown on TV, the leaders greeted each other warmly and Joe Biden even managed to unwittingly give out a certain spoiler for the future, saying that he was counting on a new meeting with Putin in full-time format. It is difficult to imagine such words from the lips of a person who, in a couple of minutes, plans (as many in the West hoped) to present his counterpart with some kind of ultimatum on the verge of declaring open war.
Actually, nothing of the kind happened, which once again became proof of the fact that despite desperate attempts by certain forces to turn international relations into an irresponsible buffoonery, they still hold on, including through the efforts of politicians of the old school, such as the current presidents Russia and the USA.
The meeting, which lasted a little more than two hours (urgent messages about the end of the teleconference appeared on the tapes of telegraph agencies at 20:13 Moscow time), ended in a very prosaic and even somehow mundane. If after the June summit both leaders rushed to go out to the press and hold impromptu press conferences on its results, now nothing of the kind has happened. They talked and talked, for the first time, or what?
In the process of anxious anticipation of the first messages in essence of the negotiations themselves, as if hinting at their tone, news came from the United States that the provision on the imposition of sanctions against Nord Stream-2 miraculously disappeared from the draft defense budget, which was finally agreed in both chambers of Congress, mention of the ban on the acquisition by American citizens of sovereign debt obligations of Russia (that is, in fact, this is a waiver of the embargo on investments in the Russian economy), as well as consideration of the possibility of replenishing the sanctions list with the names of 35 more Russians. As they say, what was required to be proved. By the way, during the conversation, Putin noted that the sanctions have generally shown their ineffectiveness and only harm the relations between the countries.
An hour after the start of the online meeting, first the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, said that any ultimatums to Moscow are not an option, and Ukraine is not a good reason for aggravation, and then the notorious (especially in Ukraine) Deputy Head of the State Department Victoria Nuland told the world a long time ago an understandable truth: if the Russians really cross the Ukrainian border, the United States will not be able to prevent this in any way.
The second indirect “result” of the meeting (which appeared even before it began) was the statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Russia plans to press Ukraine to implement the Minsk agreements, but through the United States, and not with the help of the German and French participants who have shown their worthlessness. “Norman Four”.
This was another confirmation of the actual death of this format of negotiations on the Donbass, and another slap in the face (and, in my opinion, well-deserved) to the Europeans who did not want to grow out of short American panties, sang along and pursue a responsible and, most importantly, independent foreign policy.
This news, naturally, caused no euphoria in Europe, and therefore it is not surprising that France, Germany, Italy and the UK announced urgent four-way consultations by phone right in the midst of Biden’s conversation with Putin. Then, however, we decided to first wait until the end of the negotiations and listen to Uncle Joe. Which, of course, only confirms their “independence”.
The first to open the curtain of secrecy over the content of the dialogue between the two leaders was in the White House. According to the local press service, the heads of the two states discussed issues of strategic stability, and during the conversation, the US President expressed his concern about the situation around Ukraine, urging Russia to return to the path of diplomacy, and at the same time told Putin about the very “terrible sanctions” of an economic nature that The West intends to use it in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. In general, the agenda has been worked out. It would be strange if this did not happen.
In Kiev, such news was probably received with enthusiasm. Still, they already caught every word from across the ocean, and in the current situation they simply could not wait until, finally, their fate was announced to them – whether their Western partners would surrender or not surrender to the insidious Putin. But Putin himself does not need this. And no matter how many people in Ukraine persuade the whole world and themselves that they sleep in the Kremlin and see how to destroy Ukrainian independence, something tells me that the Russian leadership has a normal, healthy dream and does not dream of any nightmares or horrors.
This was clearly shown by the current negotiations, the main result of which was the agreement to continue joint work on topical issues of the bilateral agenda. And that’s it, nothing else happened. The presidents of Russia and the United States simply met (albeit virtually) and talked. You can continue to calmly prepare for the New Year holidays.
Alexey Belov, IA Anti-fascist