The dates of the main international tour of the first period of U.S. President Joseph Biden’s presidency are coming.
The G7 summit on June 11-13 in Cornwall, the NATO summit on June 14 and the European Union-US summit on June 15 in Brussels, and finally the Biden-Vladimir Putin meeting in Geneva on June 16. The most important strategic issues of the world will be discussed at these meetings. And among them, of course, the issues of Ukraine and the war in the Donbas will often be raised.
Biden outlined his plans for the meetings in a program article for The Washington Post. At the same time, an unexpected phone call between the president of the United States and the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky took place this week. Reading Biden’s article and the press releases of the White House and the President’s Office after the conversation, we can see some dangerous tendencies for Ukraine and the world. What does this mean?
The very fact that the conversation between Biden and Zelensky took place before the summits is important.
But its results are not quite positive. Thus, Zelensky was invited to Washington in July this year, and Ukraine will receive 900,000 doses of vaccines from COVID-19.
The United States has expressed full support for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and reforms. However, the Ukrainian side was forced to remove the mention that Biden supported the decision to provide Ukraine with an Action Plan for NATO membership. It is safe to say that this issue will definitely not be raised at the next summits. As well as some concrete steps for further integration of Ukraine into the Euro-Atlantic space, even though the threat of further escalation of the war by Russia remains.
What is more, in Biden’s article for The Washington Post, a particularly dangerous trend can be seen. The red “silk thread” that runs through the text is the idea that Biden aims to unite the democratic world led by the United States against the main rival ― China. It is China that the West must oppose the alternative. Thus, the focus of the main strategic rivalry is shifting from Russia and Vladimir Putin to Beijing. Although during the presidential campaign and Biden’s first months in office, Moscow was rightly perceived in Washington’s politics as a major foreign policy threat to the world. It is necessary to enter into a predictable relationship with Russia and maintain the current status quo. This cannot be called a “pacification of the aggressor,” which, unfortunately, European politicians are often inclined to, but neither is the active pressure on Putin-the “geopolitical bully.”
This position of the US presidential administration has already been directly implemented in practice. The United States decided not to add sanctions to the construction of Nord Stream 2, although they had the opportunity to do so. On the one hand, this is a significant concession to the Kremlin, on the other ― to European partners with whom Biden wants to restore the most trusting relationship. Also, the issue of further prospects for Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic integration has been postponed. Obviously, not to “anger” Putin. And the conversation between Biden and Zelensky confirms this.
Unfortunately, this tactic is wrong and quickly exhausts itself. Russia has repeatedly argued that any “reboots” and “détente” end with the Kremlin only gaining strength for further aggressive action. Shifting attention to China’s containment, the United States is giving Putin carte blanche for Eastern Europe. And if China is currently acting mainly by economical means of influence, Putin ― by force and violation of all possible international rules.
First, Ukraine will suffer.
We should expect a further escalation of the war. But Russia’s pressure on other countries in the region will increase ― on Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, the Baltic countries, and Poland. It is clear that the Kremlin will intervene more and more actively in European affairs. Therefore, the pressure on Russia should not only not be eased, but only intensified. Sanctionary pressure, diplomatic and economic, helping militarily those who defend themselves from Russian aggression. Putin is a murderer, not a partner.
This view is shared by US members of Congress.
Co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional Ukrainian Caucus, Brian Fitzpatrick, Andy Harris, Marcy Kaptur, and Mike Quigley, wrote a letter to Biden before the G7, NATO, and US-EU summits, as well as before the meetings with “Russian dictator” Vladimir Putin.
The members of Congress are convinced that the previous actions of the Biden administration inadequately reflect the position of the United States. According to media reports, the members of Congress pointed out that a successful meeting with Putin is possible only from a position of strength. In this regard, they encourage Biden to impose sanctions on all organizations involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2, as well as to support Ukraine’s NATO Membership Action Plan and to commit to increasing US assistance in the field of security of Ukraine.
In this situation, the Ukrainian authorities now need to as much as possible remind the world that we are part of the West and will not agree to remain in Russia’s orbit under any circumstances. And ask questions about concrete next steps for rapprochement. Western politicians, on the other hand, should understand that by not giving Ukraine specifics, they are fueling dangerous feelings in our country, such as geopolitical “loneliness” and “fatigue” from confrontation along with a much stronger enemy — Russia.
In 1906, 115 years ago, the Russian writer Maxim Gorky wrote the famous appeal: “Do not give money to the Russian government!” in which he said literally the following:
“And is Europe really so little worried about a simple thought that it’s unsafe to have 140 million people as neighbors, whom they try in every possible way to turn into animals, persistently instilling in them, enmity and hatred for everything that is not Russian, bringing up in them with cruelty ― even greater cruelty, violence ― a passion for violence even more brutal?”.
Unfortunately, it is clear that even after 115 years, these warnings remain relevant, not only for Europe but for the whole democratic world. And the Kremlin should not only not be given money, but also opportunities to cultivate plans for further enslavement of both its own people and neighboring countries.
Oleksiy Goncharenko is a Ukrainian lawmaker with the 27-member European Solidarity party.
