France pleads for a direct dialogue between the European Union and Russia on the security architecture in Europe, explained Sunday the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune.
Read alsoIn the Baltic countries, the French army and its allies train for war against Russia
We must have "
as the European Union (...) proposals, an organized, regular dialogue with Russia, while being firm
", he declared at the Grand Rendez-vous d'Europe 1 , CNEWS and
Les Échos
newspaper
.
According to him, Russian President Vladimir Putin favors dialogue with the United States because it “
reminiscent of the times of the Cold War and the clash of superpowers
” and also potentially allows him to “
divide
” Europeans.
“
What we have to do is stay united as Westerners, be present as Europeans.
Is the European Union doing enough?
Probably not today
,” said the secretary of state.
“Division would be the greatest gift we could give to Russia”
Emmanuel Macron had already called on Wednesday before MEPs for a dialogue between the EU and Russia on "
a new security order in Europe
", not without worrying Anglo-Saxon observers, who fear divisions within NATO. .
"
We must build it between Europeans, then share it with our allies within the framework of NATO, then propose it for negotiation with Russia
", he had launched.
“
We would be wrong to try to play against each other
,” noted Clément Beaune.
"
The division would be the greatest gift we could give to Russia
," he added.
In the immediate future, Paris and Berlin are trying to "
reactivate
" their mediation between Russia and Ukraine within the so-called "
Normandy
" format, underlined Clément Beaune, referring, without further details, to "
initiatives
" and a new interview between Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Poutine in “
the coming days
”.
Clément Beaune also deemed it "
unreasonable
" to speak of Russian "
sound of boots
" in Ukraine when the diplomatic channel has not been exhausted. “
The movements of troops, tanks, trucks we see them (...) From there to say what exactly Vladimir Putin wants, what Russia wants, we must be careful. No one knows exactly
,” he said. “
It would be unreasonable to speak today of the noise of boots when we are still looking for diplomatic solutions while preparing for scenarios of toughness
,” he continued, alluding to the European threat of “
massive
” sanctions.
against Russia in the event of military intervention in Ukraine.
Read alsoRussia deploys troops to Belarus
Tensions between Moscow and Washington are high over Ukraine on the border of which Europe and the United States say some 100,000 Russian troops have been deployed for an invasion, an intention that Russia denies to have.
Americans and Russians have nevertheless agreed to continue the difficult talks started on January 10 in Geneva next week.
