The situation between Russia and Ukraine has changed dramatically overnight, and Putin has rarely bowed his head
As we all know, the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine on the front line is actually a contest between Russia and the United States and Western countries. Due to Ukraine's long-term decline on the battlefield, Western countries have made new moves. Finland, which just joined NATO this year, recently signed a defense cooperation agreement with the United States, which will open 15 military bases to the United States.
On the same day, the 27 countries of the European Union also once again wielded the stick of sanctions and launched a new round of sanctions against Russia. In addition, the EU announced that it will continue to freeze the assets of individual Russian citizens on the sanctions list, and that the EU does not intend to unfreeze the assets of Russian citizens even if they are dead.
According to ** news, the United States, Japan, and Australia also held a joint military exercise a few days ago, and the exercise took place on the island of Hokkaido, which is close to the Russian border. In this regard, Russia solemnly submitted to the Japanese embassy that the provocative actions with the participation of foreign countries are considered a potential threat to Russia's security. Russia said it would take appropriate measures to further strengthen its defense capability.
Seeing that the situation between Russia and Ukraine has become more variable, France** Macron said in an interview that he would not rule out inviting Putin to visit France in 2024. However, the precondition is that Putin will hold peace talks with Zelensky in Ukraine, which will bring qualitative changes to the situation between Russia and Ukraine.
Frankly speaking, Europe does not want the war between Russia and Ukraine to continue, after all, Europe is now covered with wounds, and even shaken the foundation of the European economy. However, Russian press secretary Dmitry Peskov bluntly said that negotiations with Ukraine are not an urgent option at present, because there is still a lack of political basis and prerequisites.
Obviously, the lack of political foundation and prerequisites is caused by the United States and Western countries. However, Putin made it clear that Russia has no intention of going to war with NATO countries, and this is not conducive to Russia in terms of geopolitical interests, economic and military interests, and Russia actually intends to develop relations with NATO countries.
Putin also hit the nail on the head to point out the problem, bluntly saying that NATO "artificially created the problem" because NATO does not want Russia as a competitor. It can be seen that Putin does not want NATO to be involved in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and has sent a signal of goodwill to NATO. This is also well understood, since Ukraine, having lost NATO assistance, will soon be forced to embark on the path of peace talks.
In addition, Putin also hopes that NATO and Russia will cooperate on the principles of equality and mutual respect to achieve the goal of permanent peace and harmony. He hopes that NATO can get rid of its dependence on the United States and establish an independent European security architecture. Putin bluntly said that Russia has never intended to break out into conflict with Europe, and there is no such intention now, and it is simply not valid for the United States to scare Europe through Russia.
It is undeniable that Putin's sudden release of friendly signals to NATO countries is also related to Finland's accession to NATO, the deepening of military collusion with the United States, and the United States' support for Ukraine.
Now that Russia has opened the skylight to speak brightly, it depends on how NATO chooses. Of course, if NATO still wants to continue to stoke the fire and form a situation of encirclement against Russia, Putin will not compromise.