by Chris Black
France has always been the European country least committed to America.
They recognized after the war that they didn’t have any choice but to go along with America, but they’ve never liked that situation.
Because of this, their leaders have always been put in a difficult position, where they have to be subservient to the American agenda, lest they end up with serious problems, but they also have to try to explain to their own people what they are doing.
Sarkozy was a king shill for the US under Obama, leading the bombing of Libya which led to the (still ongoing) migrant crisis from Africa.
That’s probably not how he wants to be remembered, hence we see him making some of the most hardcore statements we’ve heard from anyone in Europe.
RT:
Diplomacy is the only way to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, which should be neutral and a bridge between Russia and the EU, the former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Sarkozy, 68, spoke to Le Figaro about his upcoming book, ‘The Time of Battles’, a memoir that covers the 2009-11 period of his 2007-12 presidency. “We need the Russians and they need us,” the outlet titled the interview.
Addressing the Ukraine situation, Sarkozy argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin was wrong to “invade” the country and failed to achieve his objective, but that he’s “not irrational” and should be approached through diplomacy.
“Russia is a neighbor of Europe and will remain so,” Sarkozy said, so the EU needs to get out of the current impasse because “in this regard, European interests are not aligned with American interests. We cannot stick to the strange idea of ’fighting a war without fighting.’”
It’s rare that anyone will even point out how “strange” the idea of the West fighting a war against Russia without committing any soldiers actually is.
The media and the government act like this is totally normal.
The precedent was arming ISIS, but America never sent this amount of heavy equipment to ISIS.
They sent small arms and a fleet of Hiluxes.
In Sarkozy’s vision, a compromise would involve the West recognizing Crimea as Russian, because “when it comes to this territory, which was Russian until 1954 and where a majority of the population has always felt Russian, I think any step back is illusory.” Ideally, he added, there ought to be a referendum “organized under strict control of the international community,” to ratify the current state of affairs.
The same would apply to “disputed territories of eastern and southern Ukraine,” the former French leader said, though that would depend on what happens on the ground.
“If the Ukrainians do not completely manage to win them back, then the choice will be between a frozen conflict – which we know will inevitably lead tomorrow to a new hot conflict – or we can come out on top by resorting, again, to referendums strictly supervised by the international community to settle these territorial questions in a definitive way,” he told Le Figaro.
Ukraine “must remain” a bridge between Europe and Russia, Sarkozy argued, noting that forcing it to choose between the East and the West “seems to me contrary to the history and geography of this complex region.”
This is hardcore.
Everyone knows which way an internationally observed referendum would go.
And everyone kinda understands that a referendum that all parties agree to recognize would be the most fair thing in this situation.
For those who understand anything about the basic history here, the Ukraine is invading Russia, not the other way around.
Crimea and the Donbass have always been a part of Russia, and it’s just a twist of history that they ended up on the Ukrainian side of the border – which wasn’t a problem until the US took over the government of the Ukraine.
Sarkozy is still a pretty relevant figure, and these statements are going to make some waves. Probably, Macron will be obligated to respond to them, and explain exactly what the plan is here.
Macron himself has given the impression that he is not happy being a slave to America.
He was the one who kept going over and visiting Putin before the invasion.
The issue there is, Macron is obviously some kind of sick sex pervert who is being blackmailed.
Sarkozy himself was blackmailed with a charge that Libya had given him money when he was forced into that insane plot to destroy that particular country for no clear reason.