There is a yellow that surrounds the virtual summit of the “coalition of the willing” to be held around noon today. It is the meeting that follows the talks of last night at the White House, from which the willingness to organize a bilateral Putin -zeky “within two weeks” (perhaps in Geneva) and in which we discussed how to provide the security guarantees to Kiev, guarantees that Russia would now have will be willing to accept, has emerged.
Yellow revolves around leaders’ personalisms, in particular those of Emmanuel Macron, the only one – however – that seems to have come out not very happy from the encounter in Washington and who has doubts about the real will of Russia to reach peace. Downing Street has in fact announced that the British Stager Stager will preside over the top this morning: the Prime Minister will update the leaders of the allied countries on the outcome of the summit and discuss the next steps to take. All very nice. Except that a few minutes later the agencies publish another press release, this time from the Elysée, in which it is said that the meeting will not only be Starmer but also the French president Emmanuel Macron.
Starmer and Macron’s position on the outcome of the Washington interviews, after all, is quite distant. For the British premier yesterday “we made concrete progress” and “the meeting was positive and constructive and a true sense of unity among the European leaders present was perceived”. “We obtained two concrete results – explained the Labor leader – the first, on the question of security guarantees, was the agreement that the coalition of the available countries, or 30 countries that already collaborate on the security guarantees, will now work with the United States to coordinate these guarantees, and we have already in charge of our teams to carry out further detailed works in this regard. This is really important for safety in Ukraine, for safety in Europe United Kingdom”.
Definitely more pessimistic Macron, convinced that in reality Putin in the end does not want to reach an agreement at all. Russia, said in an interview, “has become a lasting destabilizing force and a potential threat to many of us”. “A country that invests 40% of its financial statements in these equipment, which has mobilized an army of over 1.3 million men, will not return to being a democratic system open from today”, added Macron, “also for its own survival, Putin must continue to eat. He is a predator, an ogre to our doors”. According to Macron this does not mean that “France will be attacked tomorrow” but “we must not be naive” because Russia “is a threat to Europeans”. In short: Mr Eliseo does not believe it. “When I look at the situation and the facts, it does not seem to me that President Putin is very willing to have peace now. Perhaps I am too pessimistic,” explained the French president in another interview, however, recognizing that “optimism” of Trump “must be taken seriously”. “If he believes he can conclude an agreement, it is great news, and we must do everything possible to have a great agreement.”
Meanwhile, the possible bilateral Putin -zeky bilateral. The Ukrainian leader said he was ready to meet the Russian counterpart and the hypothesis of meeting them in Geneva is getting closer. “It could be the right headquarters,” said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, “Italy is favorable because Switzerland is a country that has always worked for the construction of peace. Rome would also have been an ideal location, desired by Americans, Ukrainians and also by the others but there is the problem of the international criminal court, so it would have been more complicated. I believe that the Geneva headquarters can be the best location, Italy is favorable”.
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