The Biden-Putin summit opened the floodgates
A proposal from Germany and France for an EU-Russia meeting threatens to divide the European Union
Read the full article at The Dispatch
One of the downside risks of President Biden’s decision to invite Vladimir Putin to a summit in Geneva was that it created a permission structure for European allies who would want to orchestrate similar meetings with the Russian leader. “If the Americans are taking the initiative to speak to Putin, why can’t Europe?” as one European diplomat told the Financial Times. On Wednesday, the leaders of Germany and France did just that, proposing that the EU hold a summit with Putin. The timing of the overture from Berlin and Paris was less than ideal.
The same day the Germans and French proposed a summit with Putin, Russian vessels and military aircraft threatened a British warship, the HMS Defender, traveling in the Black Sea. The Defender was carrying out a preannounced “innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law," according to the British government. Russia claims these waters as part of its illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, rights that the vast majority of the international community reject. Reports vary over whether Russian forces fired warning shots at the British vessel— the Brits flatly deny their vessel was fired upon— but the incident underscores the threat Putin’s military poses to Ukraine, including efforts to prevent access to Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov.
