Russia Imposes Its Ways on US

The United States is ready to talk about a transformation of Ukraine into a deeply decentralized federation, but only if Kiev agrees.

Vladimir Putin first presented the Russian terms on Friday in an unannounced telephone call to Barack Obama and then, in more detail, to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry via the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a four-hour meeting in Paris on Sunday night.

Moscow wants the new Ukrainian constitution to grant a high level of autonomy to regional authorities in matters of economy, taxes, culture, language and education, and to enable them to continually establish direct economic and cultural relations with neighboring countries or regions. The intention is clear: This way, through the Eastern provinces populated mostly by Russians, the Kremlin will be able to permanently influence Kiev’s policy, and above all, block the country’s integration with the West — the more so because the new constitution, according to Moscow, should contain the principle of the permanent neutrality of Ukraine.

Admittedly, after the meeting in Paris, Kerry stressed that an agreement has not been reached and, in any case, that all decisions will need to be discussed with the authorities in Kiev. He also admitted that he will “consider the ideas and the suggestions that we developed tonight.” According to The Los Angeles Times, the two politicians agreed to “work together for a global reform of the constitution, as well as free and fair elections monitored by the international community.”* Like the U.S. media have emphasized, the secretary of state did not mention Crimea in the conversation with Lavrov. This means that in practice, America recognized the Russian occupation of the peninsula.

Kiev’s response to the Lavrov’s proposal is much firmer. In a special statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry declared, “Under machine gun muzzles, the aggressor strives for one thing: the total surrender of Ukraine, and the decay and destruction of the Ukrainian state.”*

Kerry’s mild reaction is in part due to Obama’s speech on Wednesday in Brussels, in which he clearly stated that the United States will not be intervening militarily in defense of European countries not belonging to NATO. This significantly limits Washington’s room for maneuver — especially since Lavrov hinted that in case of a rejection of the federalization plan, the Kremlin will not hesitate to hit eastern Ukraine.

According to U.S. intelligence, the Russians have already gathered about 40,000 soldiers near the Ukrainian border, mostly belonging to the elite units. To keep the ball rolling, on Friday, Putin urged Obama to address the problem of Transnistria, but without the direct participation of the U.S. and EU, which would obtain the status of mere observers in any negotiations. Americans are ready to accept the federalization of Ukraine. They are aware of the realities in Eastern Europe, where Russian power is far greater than that of the United States, as Americanist at the Clingendael Institute of International Relations Willem Post explained to Rzeczpospolita.

Michael McFaul, until recently the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, admitted on NBC:

“As President Kennedy said very famously during the Berlin crisis, he was not going to negotiate about the freedom of Berlin under the guise of ‘what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is negotiable.’ This feels a little bit like that: they (the Russians) are changing the subject to talk about what they want, not what we want to talk about.”

One of the reasons America is prepared to at least consider a diplomatic solution to the crisis Russia has induced is that [it] has not become an absolute priority from the perspective of Washington, which pushes other issues aside. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said that Obama maintains his intention to take two trips to Asia this year, a region of the world that is of paramount importance to the U.S. administration. Some American politicians in this situation are accepting the Russian initiative with relief.

“What gives me a sense we may be able to solve the situation is that Putin did call our President and suggestions were made,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California and chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Intelligence stated on CNN.

According to Laurence Nodron, expert at the French Institute of International Affairs, the reasons for the U.S. docility toward Russia are profound.

“After 15 years of wars in Muslim countries, America is very tired of foreign interventions — and involvement in Ukraine is seen in Washington as more risky because of the unpredictability of Putin and the military means at his disposal,”* she told Rzeczpospolita.

*Editor’s note: The original quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.