European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker defied criticism and attended the showcase investment jamboree of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (Spief) on June 16 to call for a dialogue to end the current showdown with Russian Federation.
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Juncker has warned that his visit is not “an occasion for the European Union to announce any sort of change in our attitude towards Russia” over its March 2014 annexation of Crimea and alleged masterminding of a separatist rebellion in Ukraine. “We need to mend it and I believe we can, but our path must begin with Ukraine”, he said.
“The Minsk agreements are the goal but now there is a situation when Russian Federation says it is not going to act until the sanctions are lifted, while the European Union is saying that they will only lift them when the agreements are implemented. We must tackle them urgently”, Juncker added.”I have strong preference for pipelines that unite, rather than pipelines that divide”, he added, as quoted by Reuters.
“Russia is party to the Minsk agreement”, he said.
He appeared keen however to hedge Russia’s bets by avoiding the impression he was taking sides, and also emphasised his “warm relations” with former U.S. President Bill Clinton, whose wife Hillary is running for the White House.
He dismissed the Ukrainian argument that a full cessation of hostilities must precede all those steps, saying that on the contrary the political settlement is essential for fully ending hostilities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will look to refashion himself as a more reliable partner for the West as Moscow struggles to come in from the cold at its flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg. In the United States, where President Barack Obama will leave office in January, Republican candidate Donald Trump has argued for steps to resolve differences with Russian Federation. “This is the only way to lift the economic sanctions”, he said. This implies limitations for Russia-EU energy cooperation, but to what extent will this resilience develop?
In addition to Peskov’s warning about targeting Assad, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that drafting a new constitution and holding new elections are the way to end the Syrian crisis.
But, while the United States has been steadfast that sanctions should remain in place until a Minsk peace deal is implemented, cracks are beginning to show in Europe’s resolve.
But political rhetoric does not let economic pragmatism prevail: Current reports are that sanctions on Russian Federation are most likely to be prolonged for another six months as early as next week.
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But Mr Juncker also said the bloc would have to learn lessons not only from events in Britain but from the rest of Europe, adding: “This euroscepticism is not only present in Britain”.
