As early as November, President Vladimir Putin called on the country’s Foreign Ministry to keep the West in a state of tension. There is a “nervous war” going on, in which Russia’s unpredictability puts it in a position of superiority, says Professor Alexei Makarkin.
Moscow
Russia “In a letter to various Western states, it seeks to find possible conflicts with the United States and thus weaken European support for the United States,” says Professor. Alexei Makarkin.
He is the Deputy Director of the Center for Political Technology in Moscow.
“Russia expects answers from certain countries, possibly with different nuances. If there are any, Russia can appeal to these countries and emphasize that the West is not united, ”Makarkin says in a telephone interview.
At the turn of January-February, Russia sent a letter to a number of Western states outlining their positions on the principles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The letter has been received by many OSCE participating States, including Finland.
In Russia The state-owned news agency Tass made Finland the headline on Tuesday in their newswhich it told the foreign minister Sergei Lavrovin to various western states from the letter.
The first their news It published Lavrov’s letter as early as Monday, but at the time the headline was Austria. Later, Tass has reported separately at least the letters sent to Norway and Latvia.
According to Makarkin, raising Finland and Austria to the title is no coincidence.
“I think Russia is trying to appeal to the role of these countries as a mediator. They are not U.S. military allies, so they could act as some sort of mediator. Both have considerable experience in organizing summits. ”
The OSCE Summit, which alleviated the tensions of the Cold War, was held in Helsinki in 1975. The constructive atmosphere of the meeting became known as the “spirit of Helsinki”.
President of the United States Jimmy Carter and the leader of the Soviet Union Leonid Brezhnev negotiated in Vienna, Austria in 1979.
Russia Makarkin is seeking bilateral talks with various countries, but Makarkin points out that similar initiatives have been taken to Russia in dialogue with Western countries.
Prime Minister of Hungary, a member of NATO and the European Union Viktor Orbán visited Moscow on Tuesday and had a long discussion with the Russian president Vladimir Putin with.
French president preparing for next year’s presidential election Emmanuel Macron is seeking to show leadership in Europe and spoke with Putin on the phone last Friday and Monday. Also the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö has been in regular contact with Putin.
“Above all, Western leaders are trying to get first-hand information and explore opportunities for compromise. They are in a difficult situation because the United States is talking about the possibility of war and the Ukrainians, for their part, say it is exaggerated. ”
Makarkin recalls that Putin urged as early as November, the Russian Foreign Ministry to keep the West in a state of tension and maintain its state of affairs for as long as possible.
He calls the current situation a nervous war that is so far under control on both sides.
“The problem is that different waves and eruptions can lead to all sorts of negative options.”
Russia has an advantage in the situation due to its unpredictability. The next steps can only be guessed at.
“If we knew what was to come, Russia would lose its dominance in this game.”
Read more: Finland and Sweden are preparing a response to Russia together – “This will not be answered in five minutes,” said the Swedish Foreign Minister
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