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We are witnessing a general retreat of the collective West, which is trying to avoid an open conflict with the Russian Federation

The May political events laid the foundation for even more dynamic processes in international life. That is why June promises to be even more eventful with summits, meetings and decisions. So, on June 11-13, the G7 Summit will take place. After that, on June 14, a summit of the North Atlantic Alliance is expected, on June 15 a US-EU summit will take place, and a meeting of the Presidents of the United States of America and the Russian Federation in Geneva is scheduled for June 16. However, the closer these important meetings, the more alarming signals appear for Ukraine, the issue of aggression against which seems to become a low priority against the background of other factors of the international agenda.

In May, it was reported that Biden was changing his position on the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. The Biden administration inherited tough Nord Stream 2 sanctions by US Congress and former US President Donald Trump. However, Biden administration has now announced that sanctions will be imposed on pipeline contractors but not on the company overseeing the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, or its CEO, Matthias Warnig, a German citizen with close ties to Vladimir Putin.

In Washington DC, sanctions sponsor US Senator Ted Cruz and others voiced their concerns. «»The administration’s decision to waive sanctions sends an unfortunate signal that the United States is not prepared to do what Congress has mandated they do: use crushing sanctions to stop the pipeline. Projects like the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are a threat to European energy security. This type of weakness only encourages Putin’s aggression. He’s not paying a significant price for his malign activities and with decisions like these, the Biden administration is only encouraging him. It is exactly the wrong message to send».[1]

The actions of the American president were also negatively assessed by the leading Western media. The Wall Street Journal said that «President Biden has talked tough about Vladimir Putin, but his policy response has been mixed. This week’s sanctions decision on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline provides more reason for concern». An article in the Financial Times, in turn, analyzing the United States' reaction to Lukashenko's recent actions, emphasizes that the US president may show weakness meeting the Russian president.

The Biden administration is guided by the idea that a change of position on Nord Stream 2 could have a positive effect on the United States' relations with Germany. «It’s almost completely finished, to go ahead and impose sanctions now, I think is counter-productive in terms of our European relations»[2] - the US president stated. In addition, Joe Biden, before meeting with Putin, shows that he is ready to make concessions on less fundamental issues in exchange for reaching agreements on his foreign policy priorities. Back in February 2021, Ukraine was involved in consultations on Nord Stream-2. And in May 2021 - Ukraine is not involved any more. Biden's actions also show that the Ukrainian issue is not a priority for the new administration, but a secondary issue. Among the topics that the US President will discuss with Vladimir Putin are the issues of nuclear non-proliferation, especially in the context of the Iranian nuclear deal, climate change, the Arctic region, the conflicts in Syria and Libya. While, the unconditional priority for the United States is to contain China. Therefore, Biden will try to enlist the support of European allies while preventing Russia's rapprochement with China, probably through certain concessions.

Within NATO, the issue of Russia's aggression against Ukraine remains a topic for internal discussion, and Ukraine was not invited to the next summit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that he does not understand how a format for Ukraine's participation in the future summit was not found. «We understand the desire of the Allies to hold their own summit to discuss Trans-Atlantic unity. There are examples of such summits, including one in Brussels, in 2017. To be honest though, we don't understand at all how a closed-format NATO summit could be held against the background of the aggressive actions by the Russian Federation targeting Ukraine, in the Black Sea region, as well against the Allies, I mean the latest events, the latest outcome of the probe in the Czech Republic», the minister said. In addition, Vice Premier Olha Stefanishina said that Ukraine will not be provided with the MAP at this summit.

Thus, the Ukrainian government's hopes for real assistance from partners in the context of resistance to Russian aggression were dashed. However, consultations with both the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance continue. Olha Stefanishina announced her visit to NATO Headquarters taking place right before the Alliance's summit. Also, talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joseph Biden before the US-Russian summit were announced. However, such diplomatic coordination will not protect Ukraine in the event of increased Russian aggression, because even if the US and Russian presidents reach an agreement to reduce tensions in the Baltic-Black Sea region, there are no mechanisms to control and regulate these agreements and they can be violated at any time.

Obviously, we are witnessing a general retreat of the collective West, which is trying to avoid an open conflict with the Russian Federation. And while Joe Biden is ready to make concessions, Vladimir Putin has no intention of deviating from his red lines.

 

  1. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/biden-softens-sanctions-on-putins-pipeline/
  2. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-25/biden-says-he-waived-nord-stream-sanctions-because-it-s-finished?sref=Y0jVLcFo

We are witnessing a general retreat of the collective West, which is trying to avoid an open conflict with the Russian Federation

The May political events laid the foundation for even more dynamic processes in international life. That is why June promises to be even more eventful with summits, meetings and decisions. So, on June 11-13, the G7 Summit will take place. After that, on June 14, a summit of the North Atlantic Alliance is expected, on June 15 a US-EU summit will take place, and a meeting of the Presidents of the United States of America and the Russian Federation in Geneva is scheduled for June 16. However, the closer these important meetings, the more alarming signals appear for Ukraine, the issue of aggression against which seems to become a low priority against the background of other factors of the international agenda.

In May, it was reported that Biden was changing his position on the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. The Biden administration inherited tough Nord Stream 2 sanctions by US Congress and former US President Donald Trump. However, Biden administration has now announced that sanctions will be imposed on pipeline contractors but not on the company overseeing the project, Nord Stream 2 AG, or its CEO, Matthias Warnig, a German citizen with close ties to Vladimir Putin.

In Washington DC, sanctions sponsor US Senator Ted Cruz and others voiced their concerns. «»The administration’s decision to waive sanctions sends an unfortunate signal that the United States is not prepared to do what Congress has mandated they do: use crushing sanctions to stop the pipeline. Projects like the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are a threat to European energy security. This type of weakness only encourages Putin’s aggression. He’s not paying a significant price for his malign activities and with decisions like these, the Biden administration is only encouraging him. It is exactly the wrong message to send».[1]

The actions of the American president were also negatively assessed by the leading Western media. The Wall Street Journal said that «President Biden has talked tough about Vladimir Putin, but his policy response has been mixed. This week’s sanctions decision on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline provides more reason for concern». An article in the Financial Times, in turn, analyzing the United States' reaction to Lukashenko's recent actions, emphasizes that the US president may show weakness meeting the Russian president.

The Biden administration is guided by the idea that a change of position on Nord Stream 2 could have a positive effect on the United States' relations with Germany. «It’s almost completely finished, to go ahead and impose sanctions now, I think is counter-productive in terms of our European relations»[2] - the US president stated. In addition, Joe Biden, before meeting with Putin, shows that he is ready to make concessions on less fundamental issues in exchange for reaching agreements on his foreign policy priorities. Back in February 2021, Ukraine was involved in consultations on Nord Stream-2. And in May 2021 - Ukraine is not involved any more. Biden's actions also show that the Ukrainian issue is not a priority for the new administration, but a secondary issue. Among the topics that the US President will discuss with Vladimir Putin are the issues of nuclear non-proliferation, especially in the context of the Iranian nuclear deal, climate change, the Arctic region, the conflicts in Syria and Libya. While, the unconditional priority for the United States is to contain China. Therefore, Biden will try to enlist the support of European allies while preventing Russia's rapprochement with China, probably through certain concessions.

Within NATO, the issue of Russia's aggression against Ukraine remains a topic for internal discussion, and Ukraine was not invited to the next summit. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that he does not understand how a format for Ukraine's participation in the future summit was not found. «We understand the desire of the Allies to hold their own summit to discuss Trans-Atlantic unity. There are examples of such summits, including one in Brussels, in 2017. To be honest though, we don't understand at all how a closed-format NATO summit could be held against the background of the aggressive actions by the Russian Federation targeting Ukraine, in the Black Sea region, as well against the Allies, I mean the latest events, the latest outcome of the probe in the Czech Republic», the minister said. In addition, Vice Premier Olha Stefanishina said that Ukraine will not be provided with the MAP at this summit.

Thus, the Ukrainian government's hopes for real assistance from partners in the context of resistance to Russian aggression were dashed. However, consultations with both the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance continue. Olha Stefanishina announced her visit to NATO Headquarters taking place right before the Alliance's summit. Also, talks between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Joseph Biden before the US-Russian summit were announced. However, such diplomatic coordination will not protect Ukraine in the event of increased Russian aggression, because even if the US and Russian presidents reach an agreement to reduce tensions in the Baltic-Black Sea region, there are no mechanisms to control and regulate these agreements and they can be violated at any time.

Obviously, we are witnessing a general retreat of the collective West, which is trying to avoid an open conflict with the Russian Federation. And while Joe Biden is ready to make concessions, Vladimir Putin has no intention of deviating from his red lines.
 

  1. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/biden-softens-sanctions-on-putins-pipeline/
  2. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-25/biden-says-he-waived-nord-stream-sanctions-because-it-s-finished?sref=Y0jVLcFo