Philadelphia - After Russian-backed rebels seized the Ukrainian town of Debaltseve, despite a peace agreement reached in Minsk prevented them to break a cease fire, the Trans Atlantic Community appears to be dramatically jeopardized and unable to answer to Russia.
On the one hand, reckless states seem to mind only to bilateral business with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin. On the other hand, courageous pro-western countries, aware of what the values of the west really are, are committed to the preservation of both Ukraine and the European Union from an important global threat as Putin's Russia is.
In the reckless states, pro-Russian lobbies succeed to influence the political and economic orientation of such countries, and led them to become "fifth columns" of Russia within the European Union. Otherwise, far-sighted politicians of the courageous pro-western states clearly understood the situation which is occurring in Ukraine, although their call for an assertive political initiative aimed to defend the values of the west both in Ukraine and in Europe is often opposed.
The most important of the countries of the pro-western coalition is the United States, whose President, Barack Obama, is deeply committed to the military opposition to ISIL and is looking favorably to the dispatch of lethal weapons to the Ukrainian army in order to oppose Russian military aggression to Ukraine.
During a public event in London, the US State Secretary, John Kerry, stated that the United States are considering the weigh of more serious sanctions to Russia than the ones that have been already set when Russia military occupied Crimea and Eastern Ukraine. - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/world/europe/kerry-says-further-sanctions-on-russia-will-be-discussed-over-ukraine.html -
With his statement, Kerry, who also accused Russia of providing weapons to pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine according to several international sources, totally shared what the newly appointed US Defense Secretary, Ash Carter, stated on the issue.
During his confirmation hearing at the United States Senate, Carter said him to be in favor of providing lethal weapons to the Ukrainian army in order to allow Ukraine, an ally to NATO of Eastern Europe, to maintain its territorial integrity.
One more country of the Trans Atlantic Community that showed to be aware of the values of the west is the United Kingdom, whose Prime Minister, David Cameron, condemned Russian military aggression to Ukraine several times.
During the same public event occurred in London, in which Kerry warned Russia on the setting of new sanctions, the British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, called the European Union to maintain a close alignment with the United States on foreign policy issues.
The statement of Hammond, who also condemned Russia's continued aggression to Ukraine, followed a warning issued by the British Defense Secretary, Michael Fallon. Fallon warned that Russia could repeat the tactics used to destabilize Ukraine in the Baltic states, which are member states of both NATO and the European Union. - http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/feb/19/russia-a-threat-to-baltic-states-after-ukraine-conflict-warns-michael-fallon
Fallon also condemned systematical violations of air and maritime spaces of the UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by Russian military aircrafts and submarines. He finally urged NATO to be ready for Russian aggression, as current tensions between Russia and the west are only a warming up that precedes an open armed conflict.
A third country of the Trans Atlantic Community which is definitively aware of the west and its values is Poland. Poland is a traditional friend of Ukraine which quite well knows the geopolitical behavior of Russia toward the states of Central Eastern Europe. The Polish PM, Ewa Kopacz, recently raised the national defense budget in order to oppose a potential military aggression by the Russian army.
During an interview released on the TVN24 Polish news broadcaster, the Marshal of the Polish Parliament, Radoslaw Sikorski, urged the Trans Atlantic Community to play a more assertive role within the peace negotiations on the Ukrainian conflict. - http://www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-ze-swiata,2/radoslaw-sikorski-w-programie-swiat-o-ukrainie,516969.html
In particular, Sikorski, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, criticized the participation within the peace talks of the sole Russia, Germany and France along with Ukraine, according to the so called "Normandy Format".
On the contrary, Sikorski endorsed the organization of the peace talks with the participation of the United States, the European Union, Russia and Ukraine, according to the so called "Geneva Format".
As well as Carter, Hammond, Fallon and Sikorski, also Aleksander Kwaśniewski, a former President of Poland, called the Trans Atlantic Community to help support Ukraine with the supply of weapons in order to allow the Ukrainian army to protect its border and citizens. - http://www.tvn24.pl/kwasniewski-putin-moze-doprowadzic-do-upadku-nato-i-ue,516637,s.html
Moreover, Kwasniewski also urged the west -the United States, Canada and the European Union- to take common measures against the Russian military aggression to Ukraine and Russian military provocations to member states of NATO.
Orban, Tsipras, Zeman and Fico among the best friends of Putin in Europe
Kwasniewski also warned about the increasing role of Russian "fifth columns" within the European Union, such as Hungary and Greece. These states, governed by openly pro-Russian leaders such as Viktor Orban and Alexis Tsipras, are urging the European Union to avoid any political and economical initiative aimed to weaken Russia as a response to the military aggression to Ukraine.
However, Orban and Tsipras are not the sole pro-Russian leaders within the Trans Atlantic Community. Both the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President Francois Hollande showed themselves to be too weak towards the President of Russia Vladimir Putin by systematically opposing any strengthening of sanctions towards Russia proposed by the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
In addition to Merkel and Hollande, also Milos Zeman and Robert Fico, the President of Czech Republic and the Prime Minister of Slovakia respectively, lobbied for Russia within the European Union.
Finally, the proposal of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni , o entrust the Russian military fleet to patrol the southern border of the European Union in order to avoid military incursions of ISIL militants from Libya, is a worrying signal that the pro-Russian front is extremely eradicated also in another of the most important countries of the European Union.
Matteo Cazzulani
Analyst of Trans Atlantic, Central Eastern Europe and energy issues
@MatteoCazzulani
