The assessment that “The stalemate in the conflict in Ukraine is in Putin’s favor” Former ambassador and adviser to the French Montaigne Institute, Michel Duclou, told Le Monde that France and the European Union should step up their strategy against Russia.
“Americans need to take more risks at the military level and Europeans at the energy level.”the former ambassador argues, stressing that the West – and especially the Europeans – need a “quick defeat of Russia”.
As for energy, he proposes that the end of the winter season coincide with an embargo on Russian gas and oil, as he notes that the size of the European market makes Russia more dependent on supplies than European customers. of.
Regarding the role of France, he considers that the contact maintained by the President of the French Republic with the President of Russia has now reached its limits, but considers that France must remain available for any settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. However, in his opinion, the point of no return has been overcome, and even if the crisis in Ukraine ends tomorrow, no one can seriously believe, that “We will be able to sit around a table with Russia, to talk peacefully as if nothing had happened.”
He argues that an absolute priority for Paris is to maintain the emergence of this more “geopolitical” Europe, which was imposed during the conflict, but whose ambitions could, as he notes, be rapidly diminished by the end of this conflict. He does not rule out the possibility that “one day – after Putin – a dialogue with Russia will be possible again”, but considers that the conditions for this are a serious weakening of the Russian giant with a clear setback in Ukraine and a unified Europe”.
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