Western Powers Are Up to No Good*

*Editor’s note: On March 4, 2022, Russia enacted a law that criminalizes public opposition to, or independent news reporting about, the war in Ukraine. The law makes it a crime to call the war a “war” rather than a “special military operation” on social media or in a news article or broadcast. The law is understood to penalize any language that “discredits” Russia’s use of its military in Ukraine, calls for sanctions or protests Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It punishes anyone found to spread “false information” about the invasion with up to 15 years in prison.

Dmitry Drize discusses recent confidential talks between U.S. President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Moscow promises to respond accordingly if Germany’s military hardware manufacturer Rheinmetall proceeds with its plans to build a tank plant in Ukraine. Last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. President Joe Biden held talks in Washington. Western media barely covered the talks. Kommersant FM political observer Drize believes that Western powers are clearly up to no good.

Scholz and Biden held face-to-face talks in Washington for about an hour with only a few people present. There were no personal advisers, not even a closing press conference or joint statement — merely brief remarks during the official photo shoot and a White House press release of a general nature. The press release conveyed the following message: There is no room for questioning the unity of Washington and its allies. Thus, both the U.S. and the EU will support Ukraine for as long as necessary, and both sides view Russia as a threat to world security, meaning that they will do anything in their power to punish Russia. It is also worth noting that Ukraine was the central theme of these recent talks.

Moscow is holding its breath, because any uncertainty is doubly alarming. Washington and its partners are obviously up to something, and this makes Moscow nervous. Uncertainty is the worst of all evils. If someone really wants to hide something, they should make a huge media fuss around this event. This will make the opponent relax, which will provide the perfect opportunity for a deadly strike. Naturally, Kommersant is in no position to advise the U.S. president or German chancellor on what they should do next.

However, it is possible that the U.S. and its allies are preparing something that should be kept a secret for the time being. It’s quite evident that the U.S. is in charge of the whole Western world, while Germany is de facto in charge of Europe. There is also an urgent need to build a new framework for international relations. That’s why Scholz flew across the ocean just to hold hour-long talks, especially given the fact that he’s always so busy.

In the meantime, in less than 24 hours after the talks, the German manufacturer of the famous Leopard tanks, Rheinmetall, announced its intentions to build a tank plant in Ukraine. Germany is expected to make a final decision in the coming months.

Technically, this news has nothing to do with the Biden-Scholz talks. Nevertheless, they might be somehow connected. There are no specifics at the moment since Berlin’s desire to build tanks in Ukraine is politically driven. However, the point is generally clear. Ukraine should remain an independent state equipped with modern Western weaponry.

Later on, Ukraine could possibly join NATO and become a Western outpost near Russia’s borders. It won’t be a neutral state in this case. However, it’s necessary to say that it’s only speculation at this point. In any case, Moscow was closely following Scholz’s visit to Washington and the news about Germany’s intentions to build a tank plant in Ukraine has obviously angered Moscow. It is clear that this does not bode well for Russia. The West is playing for high stakes.

There is another important point to discuss. A year ago, against all odds, Germany was Russia’s main trading partner in Europe, but today no one even wants to mention this fact. Winter finally came to an end, and it turns out that no one in Europe froze to death, nor was there a full-blown economic collapse. The EU is trying to figure out what to do next. It either wants to cut ties with Russia for good or leave some room for the possibility to restore relations in the future. It seems that Europe is going to decide in favor of the first option. As always, Biden promises to contribute to this cause to ensure that there would be no unnecessary doubts among America’s European partners.