President Joe Biden, 80, hosting 44-year-old French President Emmanuel Marcon at a state dinner at the White House, said he’d be willing to meet 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin for peace talks as long as Putin agreed to pull his troops out of Ukraine. Before the Feb. 24 Ukraine War started, Putin had Russian troops in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, all separatist regions, seeking independence of Kiev. Macron, who’s been pushing for a ceasefire and peace talks like no other European leader, hoped to keep the dialogue going with Putin. Biden, on the other hand, hasn’t spoken with Putin since June 16, 2021, when both leaders met in Geneva for a brief but uneventful summit. “If, in fact, there is an interest in him deciding that he’s looking for a way to end the war,” Biden said he’d be willing to meet Putin. Biden offered no conditions different than 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky’s conditions for ending the conflict involve Russia removing all of its armed forces from Ukraine’s sovereign territory. Putin annexed Sept. 30 Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, all have varying degrees of control from the Kiev government. Zelensky refuses to cede one inch of Ukrainian territory to Russia, despite the fact that when the war started Feb. 24, Russia controlled Crimea, Donetsk and Luhank. Zelensky decided that he would join forces with Biden and fight a proxy war with the U.S. using Ukrainian troops, with the U.S. supplying unlimited cash-and-weapons. Biden’s early statements about the war let Putin know that he intended to weaken the Russian military and topple the Russian government. So the war morphed early on into a U.S. proxy war against the Kremlin, not simply defending Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Macron would like Biden to work toward ending the war but wouldn’t dare give his opinion on how to bring that about. Biden and Macron said yesterday that they would never urge Ukrainians to compromise “that would not be acceptable for them,” meaning, require Kiev to make compromises for peace. Macron couldn’t be honest with Biden that any peace talks would involve compromises and concessions on both sides, not just Russia agreeing to pulling all forces out of Ukraine. Negotiating for peace would require both sides to make compromises to end the bloody conflict that has damaged much of Ukraine’s infrastructure, driving some 15 million citizens into exile. Speaking with Putin today, 64-year-old German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Putin to find a diplomatic solution that involved pulling Russian troops out of Ukraine, the exact conditions specified by Zelensky.
Zelensky’s Kiev government and war with Moscow could not go on without U.S. cash and weapons. Zelensky knows his government is bankrupt, requiring U.S. taxpayrers to subsidize the Kiev government. Putin asked Scholz to consider alternative approaches to peace, including recognizing certain Russian territories. Putin can’t get over the U.S. annexation of Ukraine, something he’s no willing to live with on the Russian border. “Destructive line of Western States including Germany,” not recognizing NATO encroachment on Moscow. “What did President Biden say in fact? He said that negotiations are possible only after Putin leaves Ukraine,” said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Peskov said the U.S. did not recognize new territories annexed by Putin Sept. 30. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained that U.S. and EU offered no peace proposals.
U.S. plays a paternalistic role is dealing with France, touting the once strategic role France played in the American Revolution. But centuries later, France that gown into its own as one of the most powerful members of the EU together with Germany. Macron has tried to maintain diplomatic ties with Putin over the nine months of war with Kiev. Macron wanted to keep the doors open knowing the risks to continued war on the European Continent. Macron wants no part of WW III or nuclear war played out in Europe. So, when it comes to the U.S. and Kiev, Macron is far more open to different options to end the Ukraine War. “The Kremlin must now give concrete signals instead of bombing the populations,” said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, saying Kiev would not surrender to Moscow. All parties know that peace talks would involve compromise on both sides.
Macron could not be honest with Biden about Ukraine peace talks, knowing the U.S. continues to wage proxy war against the Russian Federation. Macron would be open to any compromise by Russia or Kiev to end the nine-moth old conflict. Zelensky can complain about Russian war crimes but until he’s willing to compromise and end the conflict, the consequences to Ukraine will be catastrophic. Kiev officials complain that Putin has been bombing Ukrainian infrastructure, including power plants and water utilities. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavauoglu said “before next spring” ceasefire and peace talks should start to take shape. Macron would push Biden more for peace talks it he thought it would have any effect. Macron understands that compromise on both sides is the key to ending the nine-month old conflict. Biden must accept that only compromise can end to the conflict.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’ editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma .
