THE NEW YORK TIMES: After years of trying to diplomatically divide and conquer, the Russian leader has seemingly decided to antagonize Europe as a whole in the current Ukraine crisis.
For much of his 22 years in high office, Vladimir V. Putin has worked to carefully balance Russia’s position in Europe. He ingratiated himself with some capitals as he bullied others, and sought economic integration as he lambasted European values.
Even after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 sent relations plunging, and Moscow harried some European countries with mass-scale disinformation and near-miss military fly-bys, it reached out to others — if not exactly winning them over, then at least keeping diplomacy open.
But, with this winter’s crisis over Ukraine, Mr. Putin is overtly embracing something he had long avoided: hostility with Europe as a whole.
The more that Europe meets Moscow’s threats with eastward military reinforcements and pledges of economic punishments, papering over its otherwise deep internal disagreements, the more that Mr. Putin escalates right back. And rather than emphasizing diplomacy across European capitals, he has largely gone over them to Washington.
The shift reflects Moscow’s perception of European governments as American puppets to be shunted aside, as well as its assertion of itself as a great power standing astride Europe rather than an unusually powerful neighbor. It also shows Russia’s ambition to no longer simply manage but outright remake the European security order.
But in seeking to domineer Europe, even if only over the question of relations to Ukraine, “There’s a risk of pushing Europe together, of amplifying more hawkish voices and capitals,” said Emma Ashford, who studies European security issues at The Atlantic Council research group. » | Max Fisher | Saturday, January 29, 2022
