Trojan Horse

If Russia were to include other nations in the negotiations, then the whole thing would simply be a squabble. So said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in support of holding bilateral U.S.-Russian talks on sensitive issues pertaining to Europe’s status and future. The Russian diplomat clearly speaks for President Vladimir Putin, who has already issued firm demands that undermine the sovereignty of certain European countries, in addition to deploying Russian troops and fomenting unrest in Ukraine and the region with more frequent military exercises and “containment” interventions. Following a proven “divide and conquer” strategy from the days of the Roman Empire, Putin is now systematically deepening the division within NATO — or rather, the European Union — in an effort to stymie efforts by President Joe Biden to repair the damage done to the EU-U.S. strategic alliance by Donald Trump’s blessed work.

Biden, of course, is not Trump; since December, his administration has been reconciling with NATO allies, Brussels and the most important European leaders. Biden’s diplomatic delegation sat down at the bilateral Russian-American negotiations in Geneva having already settled major European concerns.

Most of the work still lies ahead, but it’s true that the negotiations began without a European presence according to Putin’s design. European Union leaders are not happy. French President Emmanuel Macron urged his foreign ministers to again tell the 27 nations of the EU on Thursday and Friday that France remains opposed to a decision affecting Europe at the U.S.-Russia talks without a European presence. Hungarian diplomats, who treat our sovereignty so delicately, are keeping quiet at the moment. The negotiations do not require us to be involved. (Hungary would probably not know which side of the table to sit on.) Still, we hope we will not be Putin’s Trojan horse at the NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation and Brest Foreign Ministers’ meeting on Thursday.