Before the start of the second round of negotiations, the French president received a long phone call from his Russian counterpart. That he revealed how he intends to take “full control” of Ukraine, “by military or diplomatic means”
The call – as revealed by the tones of the Elysée – had dramatic tones. Because perhaps for the first time the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, he showed, with his cards open, what his objectives are in the war in Ukraine: “Control of all Ukraine”, by “military or diplomatic” means. And why Putin explained to his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macronas Kiev’s “refusal” of the conditions required by Russia “means only one thing:” that the worst is yet to come. ”
To Macron – whom he had heard even before the first round of talks, in a phone call that lasted about an hour and a half like today – Putin expressed “his great determination” to continue his offensive.
Putin – as reported by various sources, from Le Figaro to the Guardian – told the French president that the operation of the Russian army is developing “according to plan” and that it will “get worse” if the Ukrainians do not accept his conditions.
“The president’s prediction is that the worst is yet to come, given what President Putin told him,” says the Elysée.
Moscow’s goal remains the same: “The neutralization, demilitarization and denazification” of Ukraine. Macron would have replied that Putin is making “a huge mistake”, which will cost his country a lot in the long run. “You are lying to yourself, and your country will be more isolated, weaker” because “under sanctions for a long time”.
“Nothing in what Macron told us was reassuring,” said a senior Elysée official quoted by the Guardian.
A little later – without relying on an official note, but speaking to his security council, in a speech broadcast on TV – President Putin confirmed that he has no intention of “stopping”: “I will never go back on my declaration that Russia and Ukraine are one people. We are at war with the neo-Nazis, we will destroy the anti-Russia created by the West. Nobody can threaten us, not even with nuclear weapons ».
Putin also stated that Kiev is “holding thousands of foreigners hostage” and that “the Russian military” are “heroes fighting for peace, Donbass and denazification”.
“We do everything we can to avoid civilian casualties,” he said – with a statement in clear and evident contrast with the images coming from the front, where dozens of civilian targets have been hit and destroyed, all over Ukraine. “We are achieving our goals and being successful.”
Just before Putin spoke, it was the Ukrainian president who did so Volodymyr Zelensky: “Come and let’s talk about it,” he said, addressing his Russian counterpart directly, “it is necessary to stop the war.”
The tired face, surrounded by his collaborators, Zelensky – who said he sleeps no more than two or three hours a night and talks to dozens of heads of state and government every day – has made a desperate appeal to the Russian leader to sit at a table, a face-to-face interview. “What do you want from us? Go away from our land. And if you don’t want to leave, sit down with me at the negotiating table. I’m available. And not at 30 meters, as with Macron, Scholz. I’m a normal man, sit with me. Talk, what are you afraid of? We do not threaten anyone, we are not terrorists ».
«If we fall», Zelensky said again, «the next will be the Baltic countries. If we do not resist, Latvia, Lithuania as well as Georgia will be the next states to be attacked “, and Putin” will not stop before reaching the Berlin wall, believe me “.
And, addressing Western leaders, he said: “If you are not in a position to close the airspace,” that is, to impose a no-fly zone, “then give me airplanes.”
Article being updated …
March 3, 2022 (change March 3, 2022 | 18:22)
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