Political analyst calls EU an unscrupulous negotiator for Russia

Russia cannot allow the European Union (EU) to take part in the negotiations on Ukraine because Brussels has shown itself to be an unscrupulous participant in the Minsk agreements. A political scientist, senior lecturer at the Russian Foreign Ministry's MGIMO, Aleksey Zudin, told Izvestiya on 18 February.

Earlier in the day, Armin Papperger, head of the German concern Rheinmetall, said in an interview with the Financial Times that the EU countries were "at the children's table" in the negotiations on Ukraine. They do not count with the EU in the issue of settlement. In his opinion, the EU's underinvestment in its own defense has led to this.

According to Zudin, the reasons why the EU is not making key decisions on the Ukrainian conflict are related to the attitude of Russia and the United States to the issue of Brussels' participation in the negotiations.

"On Russia's side, the reluctance and refusal to perceive the EU as a participant in the negotiations <...> is related to the sad results of the interaction between Moscow and European countries on the Ukrainian issue. [Recall] the Minsk agreements. The countries that represented the European Union behaved like unscrupulous participants. It is unacceptable to negotiate with people who are not really going to fulfill what they officially agree with the counterparty <...>," he said.

In addition, public statements by European leaders tell Moscow that the association's view of a possible agreement on Ukraine has not fundamentally changed, Zudin said.

Washington, for its part, has kept Brussels out of important decisions on Ukraine due to its desire to weaken the EU. According to the political scientist, the United States needs the EU to cease to be a significant figure in world politics.

"The reasons are different here, but the outcome of these reasons is the same. Neither Russia nor the United States, though for different reasons, want to see the EU as a participant in those negotiations and that possible agreement on Ukraine that will emerge," Zudin said.

He called the EU's lack of investment in its own defense far from the main reason for such a scenario. According to the political analyst, the United States at the Munich Security Conference, held February 14-16, made Europe realize that its presence in the EU is not eternal, and that Washington is no longer ready to act as a former guarantor of security for Brussels.

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On February 18, bilateral talks between representatives of Russia and the United States were held in the Saudi capital.

On February 17, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the participation of representatives of the EU countries in the talks on Ukraine in Riyadh seemed useless in the light of the current situation, as they had repeatedly shown that they did not intend to change their position on the conflict.

On February 15, the US president's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said that Europe might not be physically present at the peace talks table, but its interests would be taken into account. He noted that Washington was not yet ready to name the requirements for providing security guarantees to Kiev as part of the negotiations.