Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a meeting with Russian and French businessmen during the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on May 25, 2018. Photo: AFP / Dmitry Lovetsky
M.K. Bhadrakumar, Asia Times: Western leaders back in Russia as tensions appear to ease
East-West relations seem to have changed over past 10 days, as three major Western leaders attend St Petersburg forum
East-West relations have transformed over the past 10-day period. Russia’s isolation from the West after the Maidan coup in Kiev appears to have warmed as abruptly as it began.
Three major Western leaders – German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – visited Russia during the period since May 18, mainly to attend the St Petersburg Economic Forum. But they had one mantra to chant: Russia is an indispensable partner – and one offer to make – despite sanctions, economic and political ties with Russia are possible and necessary.
On the other hand, US President Donald Trump’s critics, who accuse him of causing a trans-Atlantic rift, have had a rethink, since he may have instead triggered an overall easing of East-West tensions, as America’s European partners dust off their “Ostpolitik” to seek an apparent rapprochement with Russia.
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WNU Editor: I expected this rapprochement to only happen after a political settlement on the Ukraine war was reached. Apparently not. Other issues more important than Ukraine are now surfacing up .... the Syrian war, Iran sanctions, the economy, etc. .... that Western leaders have decided that relations with Russia need to be strengthened, and now is the time to fill in the void that the U.S. (because of internal politics in Washington on everything Russian) has left open.
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