Understanding Ukraine (and the recent summit) with The Saker

The recent Germany, France, Ukraine & Russia summit in Paris - parts of a good review below by the Saker. If you don't understand the Ukraine situation, now is the time to learn - Saker is one of the best. Bruce

Making sense of the Paris summit: a quick analysis
By The Saker

The first thing we need to do is the remember what each participant wanted from this summit.  Here is a summary of what I think (not how they officially stated it) each starting position was:

Zelenskii: key notion “a flexible approach” to the Minsk Agreements

•     No direct negotiations with the LDNR [Lugansk & Donetsk People's Republics]
•     No special status
•     Ukrainian control of the border with Russia
•     Disarmament of the LDNR “militias”
•     Removal of all foreign forces (he means Russian forces, nevermind that they don’t exist!)
•     Creation of a “municipal police”
•     Elections under Ukrainian control

Putin: key notion “Minsk Agreements cannot be changed”

•     Kiev must negotiate with the LDNR
•     A special status for the LDNR must be included in the Ukrainian Constitution
•     The control of the border between the LDNR and Russia will be handed over only at the very end of the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements
•     No Ukrainian forces inside the LDNR, even under the guise of a “municipal police”
•     Completely free elections under international supervision

Merkel: key notion “Germany needs Russian gas and access to the Russian market”

•     Economically, Germany needs this conflict solved
•     Politically, Merkel personally needs to back the Ukrainian negotiating position and she agrees that the Minsk Agreements must be implemented “flexibly”

Macron: key notion “France as a whole and Macron personally need a deal with Russia”

•     Macron is facing an extremely severe internal crisis; he needs to open the Russian markets to French products again and present that as an immense success.
•     Macron sees that the US is losing Europe and he wants the personal credit for “solving” the conflict in the Ukraine to show that he and France, not Merkel and Germany, are the real leaders of Europe.

Finally, here is what was obviously agreed upon before the actual summit:

•     A general ceasefire
•     Exchange of prisoners

So what did NOT happen?

•     No agreement on gas (officially not on the agenda, but present in everybody’s mind)
•     No full withdrawal of forces on the line of contact

At the end, the West will have to give up its imperial ambitions.  Which is good for the planet, of course, but also for the people of the West who will, sooner or later, recover their status as one of the most important and powerful civilization in history (even without its imperialist inclinations!).  But, just as that was the case with all empires (including the Russian one!), this will only come when western imperialism finally follows all other imperialisms: it will die and toss its “imperial” illusions into the “trash bins of history” where it will join all other forms of imperialism in history.

And that is very, very good result.

The Saker
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