Correspondent in Moscow
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It is a sarcasm that sets the tone for how people in Moscow appreciate French – and in this case European – initiatives vis-à-vis Ukraine.
The blow came from the ex-president, Dmitry Medvedev, accustomed in recent times to vitriolic outbursts - he recently attacked
Western "
degenerates ".
“
European lovers of frogs, liver sausages and spaghetti like to visit
Kiev
.
It is of no use
, ”he quipped Thursday on his Telegram account, about the visit of the three European leaders to Ukraine.
“
They again promised membership of the European Union, old howitzers, drank a glass of gorilka
(Ukrainian vodka, Ed)
and took the train back, like a hundred years ago.
And everything is fine
," quipped the man who now holds the post of deputy head of the Russian Security Council, in second line therefore, but who since the intervention in Ukraine intends to multiply the pledges of loyalty to the head of the Kremlin.
"
All this
," concluded Dmitry Medvedev,
does not bring Ukraine closer to peace.
And the clock is ticking…
”
“Do not humiliate Russia”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov echoed him on a crucial point in Moscow's eyes, expressing hope on Thursday that the European trio "
won't just focus on supporting Ukraine by injecting arms”.
“It is unnecessary and it will continue to hurt people.
We hope they will use these contacts to encourage
President Zelensky
to take a realistic view of the situation
,” Mr. Peskov added.
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For Moscow, in fact, the supply of European arms to kyiv constitutes a kind of red line.
In this regard, France's shipment of six Caesar self-propelled guns to Ukraine does not pass, as a source close to the Kremlin recently indicated.
On Thursday, Emmanuel Macron also discussed alongside his two European colleagues, the role of these high-performance 155 mm French guns, currently used on the Donbass front and announced the delivery of six additional Caesars to Ukraine.
In these circumstances, the desire "
not to humiliate Russia
" expressed by Emmanuel Macron does not seem in any way likely to influence the position of the Kremlin in any way.
“
Only acts count
”, argues in substance the Russian power, which leaves cold the declarations of principle.
The Kremlin remains polarized on the concrete questions, in this case the military means that the Europeans, following the Americans, provide to the Ukrainians to enable them to “
win the victory
”.