Until now, the United States and its European allies have maintained a united front against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But two and a half months into the war, some signs of friction are beginning to emerge.
They focus on American resolve, which has grown with Ukraine’s military successes, to ensure that the conflict weakens Russia “to the point where it can’t do the kinds of things it has done by invading Ukraine,” as the secretary put it. of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III put it up last month.
The European powers, by contrast, do not want a long war of attrition that risks escalating or what they believe could be a dangerous humiliation of Russia. They are more focused on securing a ceasefire in Ukraine and the withdrawal of Russian troops, at least to the February 23 lines that existed before the war began. They believe that a diplomatic dialogue with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is essential.
“Together, we must never give in to the temptation of humiliation, nor to the spirit of revenge, because in the past they have already devastated the paths of peace,” President Emmanuel Macron of France said this week in a speech in Strasbourg. .
He added: “We are not at war with Russia. We are working in Europe for the preservation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and for the return of peace on our continent.”
A diplomatic official close to Macron, who requested anonymity in line with French government practice, described the evolving US position as essentially arming Ukraine to the limit and maintaining sanctions against Russia indefinitely. This was for the French a source of some frustration.
France, he said, wants to push forward the negotiations because there is no other way to ensure Ukraine’s security and strategic security on the European continent.
The official said that in the end, a relationship with Mr. Putin was inevitable.
Mario Draghi, the Italian prime minister, seemed intent on expressing a similar line after a Tuesday meeting with President Biden in Washington.
“We must support Ukraine,” Draghi said. “But we must also start talking about peace.” He added: “All parties must make an effort to sit around a table, including the United States.”
Mr. Draghi continued: “We must not try to win, victory is not defined. For Ukraine it means rejecting the invasion, but for others?
The central idea of the European powers — at least those not in Russia’s immediate neighborhood like Poland and the Baltic states — is that the defense of Ukraine must not become the quest for a landslide victory over Putin’s Russia.
The United States, however, seems to see little opportunity for diplomacy at present. Avril D. Haines, the US director of national intelligence, told the Senate Armed Services Committee this week that Putin was “preparing for a protracted conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond of the Donbas”.
Ms. Haines said US intelligence agencies did not believe Moscow could exert control over the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine and the buffer zone Russia wants to establish — along Ukraine’s Black Sea coast. to the Transnistria region of Moldova—in the coming weeks. But she said the Russian leader was pursuing a longer-term goal.
“Most likely, Putin will also judge Russia to be more capable and willing to withstand challenges than its adversaries,” Ms. Haines said. “And it probably counts on the determination of the US and the EU to weaken as food shortages, inflation and energy prices worsen.”
His assessment did not mention possible ceasefires, Russian troop withdrawals, diplomacy or possible Ukrainian neutrality and the security guarantees that the kyiv government would need from Western powers to do so.
These are issues of intense interest to France, Germany, Italy and other European states that are closer to war than the United States.
Reference-www.nytimes.com