(Newswire.net — February 10, 2015) — Washington, DC. – Last week, French President Francois Hollande and German Canceler Angela Merkel, urged President Obama to schedule a meeting with the Russian Federation President Putin in order to resolve the Ukraine crisis. It is not by chance these two countries have tried to initiate the peace talks. France and Germany are the leading economies in the EU. The EU is also are suffering the consequences of the US imposed sanctions on Russia, loosing billions every month.
France and Germany are also the only countries that ever fought a war against Russia at the peak of their military power, and they both lost. Napoleon tried it first, attacking the Russia with the most advanced military power at the time, and he failed. Hitler opened the Russian front attacking with the biggest and the most advanced military force at the time. Well, we all know how that went.
Now, France and Germany are struggling to resolve the crisis over Ukraine peacefully, however, US president Obama insists on arming Ukrainian soldiers. Merkel went to Washington to try to reason her western allay, however, she failed as the US apperently has its own agenda, disregarding EU interest.
The option of supplying Kiev with “lethal defensive weapons” is on the table, Barack Obama said in a joint press conference with Angela Merkel. On the same conference, the German chancellor reiterated there is no “military solution” to the conflict in Eastern Ukraine.
“I want to emphasize that a decision has not yet been made,” Obama said when questioned about weapons a second time. “It is true that if, in fact, diplomacy fails, what I’ve asked my team to do is to look at all options. What other means can we put in place to change Mr. Putin’s calculus?,” Obama said.
Merkel – who conducted direct negotiations with Vladimir Putin in Moscow last week, struck a less antagonistic, if equally firm, tone, Russia Today reported.
“We continue to pursue a diplomatic solution, although we have suffered a lot of setbacks. But, I’ve always said I don’t see a military solution in this conflict,” she said through a translator.
Although the EU has postponed new sanctions against Russia ahead of the peace talks, Obama insisted that current sanctions “need to remain fully in force.” The US leader admitted that current sanctions have “not yet dissuaded Mr. Putin from following the course that he is on.”
Yet despite admitting some tactical disagreements, the two leaders tried to present a common front.
“Russian aggression has only reinforced the unity between the United States, Germany and other European allies,” the president said. “There’s going to continue to be a strong, unified response between the United States and Europe – that’s not going to change,” said Obama.
Moscow, however, has always rejected accusations of military involvement in Ukraine, and says it will not accept any negotiating ultimatums from the West.
“The Ukrainian crisis was not caused by the Russian Federation. It emerged in response to the attempts of the US and its western allies – who consider themselves ‘winners’ of the Cold War – to impose their will everywhere,” Putin said in a recent interview with Al-Ahram, RT reported.
Amid the diplomatic atmosphere that Germany and France attempt to create, the leader of France’s rightwing Front National (FN), Marine Le Pen, accused Washington of attempting to start a “war in Europe” and expand NATO towards Russia’s borders.
“European capitals do not have the wisdom to refuse to be dependent on US positions on Ukraine,” Le Pen told French journalists on Sunday.
Former French Prime minister Francois Fillon, also said national broadcaster Channel 5 the US is attempting to “unleash a war in Europe, which would end in catastrophe.” He added that once a war broke out, the US would attempt to distance itself from it.
“The interests of the Americans with the Russians are not the interests of Europe and Russia,” Fellon said.
Meanwhile, the Greece newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, from his side additionally spills oil to the fire by requesting Germany to pay reparations for the WWII.