Gaps in arms supplies to Ukraine point to divergent countries’ strategies OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
His words infuriated Ukrainians and Central Europeans alike, who want Russia to be weakened and Mr Putin humiliated.
For Pierre Vimont, a former French ambassador to Washington and former senior EU official, European countries are divided into three rough camps.
There are people like Britain, Poland and the Baltic States who want to isolate Mr Putin and also the Russians because they are complicit in the war; those such as Belgium, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands who are rethinking the idea of Cold War control, speaking of limitations; and those countries, such as France, Germany, Hungary and Italy, “that someday hope for an opportunity to start a new dialogue with Russia, not immediately, but to be ready.”
The divisions will remain, said Mr. Vimont. “There is not much enthusiasm for a Russian strategy.”
If one is to come, Washington must lead it, but seems just as confused as everyone else. “No one has a real idea of how to handle this situation right now,” Mr Speck said. Unlike in 2014, when Germany staged the Minsk process to end the war, he said, “there is no one driving a diplomatic process.”
As the war degenerates into a protracted artillery battle with little ground gained or lost, the threat that Russia will attack Western European countries is rapidly fading, said Claudia Major, a defense expert at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
This leads to a degree of complacency, coupled with the growing economic impact of sanctions on higher inflation and lower growth.