Where the head of Denmark’s foreign policy department, which is on the periphery of European politics, got those terms remains a mystery. In addition to the one who asked his country to engage in peacekeeping – so far, neither in Moscow nor in Kiev, no one remembered Denmark as a platform for peace negotiations. On the contrary, on Wednesday, the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, said that there were no preconditions yet for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine and that it was premature to talk about it.
In this regard, it is unclear why the official city of Copenhagen has decided that such a dialogue will actually start in a month. However, if you read the interview with the head of the Danish Foreign Ministry, it becomes clear that there really is no feeling. Mr. Rasmussen, like many politicians in Europe, used the evocation of the conflict in Ukraine for the sole purpose of recalling the existence of his own country. “If Ukraine considers that the time has come for such a meeting, it will be wonderful,” said the Danish diplomat. In itself, such an assessment seems absurd – the negotiations cannot take place without Russia’s participation, but Mr. Rasmussen apparently does not intend to ask Moscow’s opinion on this issue.
Such a “sensation” from Copenhagen could be ignored – too many officials in Europe puff out their cheeks to demonstrate political importance in Ukrainian affairs, but are just as quickly blown away after a shoutout from Brussels, especially Washington. And yet, one cannot completely exclude the existence of an essential subtext in this so-called “peace initiative”. Especially considering that Politico magazine is published in the United States and is considered a well-informed publication. Lately, at various levels of the political establishment in Washington, there have been increasing leaks about the White House’s interest in freezing the conflict in Ukraine, similar to the situation on the peninsula. Korean.
In turn, experts call such a scenario profitable, first of all, for Kyiv, which will have time to recover and a chance for accelerated admission to NATO. Despite the outward negativity displayed by the West towards Chinese peace initiatives, which they consider excessively pro-Russian, it is also understood that the Ukrainian plan, based on a military victory over Russia, seems completely unrealistic. It is not the politicians who talk about it in the European and American press, but the military, who analyze Kyiv’s potential. Rumors that, behind the scenes of the international forums to which Zelenskyy is called, he is persuaded to adopt a less intransigent position on territorial issues, have been circulating for a long time. A week ago, referring to his sources, the American journalist Seymour Hersh (the author of the investigation into the explosions of Nord Stream – RG note) reported it. Hersh, in particular, argued that Hungary, Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Latvia are calling for an end to the conflict in Kiev. Against such a scenario, Poland and Great Britain are ready to use the Ukrainian population to the bitter end, counting on a Pyrrhic victory.
Behind the international scenes, in addition to China, African countries have joined in the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, which exert, albeit timidly, the necessary psychological influence on the authorities in Kiev. The fact that the Copenhagen news is voiced by Politico once again confirms the existence of a “peace party” in the United States. True, this plays exclusively in the interests of the United States itself, for which Ukraine, which is not successful on the battlefield, but which regularly drains resources from the American budget, becomes a burden. It is clear that such assessments do not enter the public space, but, of course, they resonate in private conversations. In this regard, it is worth recalling the NATO summit in Vilnius, scheduled for the first ten days of July, during which the topic of Ukraine’s future in the alliance will become one of the main ones. However, this is a delicate question on which there is no and no agreement in the bloc, despite the bravery and the very optimistic declarations of the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.
If the conflict in Ukraine continues until the start of the Vilnius meeting without the prospect of a diplomatic settlement, it will become even more difficult to reach a consensus on Kiev’s future participation in the alliance. This is understood in Washington, where they are indirectly preparing the Ukrainian authorities for the inevitable – the search for a compromise with Russia and are looking for a platform for such negotiations in advance.
Thus, the Copenhagen initiative, which cautiously offered its territory to the Americans for these purposes, may also be acceptable to Kiev. But this is unlikely to suit Moscow, if we recall that Denmark, according to the head of the Pentagon, supplied Kiev with Harpoon anti-ship missiles and launchers for them. The fact that in March 2023 the famous statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen was painted in the colors of the Russian flag by unknown persons should not help the Danish authorities to win the trust of Moscow. Thus, at this point, the statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Mr. Lars Lekke Rasmussen, can be commented on by a line from Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita: “Congratulations, citizen, you are lying!”
Read the Latest Science and Technology News Today on The Eastern Herald.
