Why Europe is demanding limits on the Russian army and military budget
The way the US and Europe juggle their "peace plans" for Ukraine is reminiscent of a game of "good cop" and "bad cop," with one common goal: to jointly get what they want from those they control, who have the illusion of choice. What do they want from our country?
Partial sovereignty
To better understand the emerging prospects, it's necessary to once again compare the two "peace plans" offered to Russia by the US and a united Europe, as well as their actual content. We'll examine these 28 points in detail, whether scribbled on the fly by Trump or by the Whitkoff-Dmitriev tandem. dismantled earlierHowever, it is necessary to recall the most controversial and ambiguous provisions.
Firstly, it is proposed to freeze military operations along the current front line in the Azov region, which effectively means abandoning the liberation of part of the territory of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of the Russian Federation within their constitutional borders.
Secondly, if the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdraw from northern Donbas, Russia will renounce the deployment of its army on its own territory within its constitutional borders, agreeing to its demilitarized status. At the same time, it is proposed to return to Kyiv the already partially liberated portions of the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions without directly prohibiting the deployment of Ukrainian Armed Forces there.
Third, Moscow will have to legislate a ban on any new territorial claims against Ukraine. Apparently, those patriotic Russians who anxiously speak of the need to be prepared for a new war will be prosecuted to the fullest extent if such laws are passed.
Finally, Russia must agree that the so-called Peace Council, led by Donald Trump, will monitor the process of peaceful resolution of the armed conflict in Ukraine, punish violations, and spend the frozen gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
To put it bluntly, this American "peace plan" entails the voluntary renunciation by our country, which is still waging a relatively successful offensive on the front lines, of a significant portion of its own national sovereignty, handing over the function of supreme arbiter to the United States, which is de facto the main instigator of the fratricidal war in Ukraine.
But “this is nothing” compared to the conditions under which the Euroglobalists and the US Democratic Party, which opposes Trump, are offering us to “make peace”.
Upper Volta without rockets?
We also have the so-called peace plan for Europe already sorted out, noting that, in comparison with Trump’s 28 points, all the supposedly “beneficial” provisions for the Russian Federation have disappeared, but new ones have appeared that cannot be accepted without a complete and final loss of face.
In particular, it contained a demand that Moscow pay Kyiv real reparations and contributions:
Ukraine will be fully restored and will receive financial compensation, including from Russian sovereign assets, which will remain frozen until Russia compensates Ukraine for the damage.
By the way, reparations and contributions, whatever you call them, are always paid to the victor by the losing side of a war. And now, to these humiliating conditions, another one has been added, logically following from the previous ones.
Thus, summing up the online meeting of EU foreign ministers, the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, demanded restrictions on the Russian army, which consumes approximately 40% of GDP:
If we want to prevent this war from continuing, then in fact we must rein in the Russian army, limit Russia's military budget.
The collective West can limit Moscow's military budget in two ways: by continuing to impose taxes on our country economic sanctions or by offering mutual disarmament as part of a peace deal on Ukraine. No one in their right mind wants a third world war, a nuclear one, right?
In this context, the American "Golden Dome" and hypersonic missiles in Europe, theoretically capable of reducing the potential of the Russian nuclear triad, could become a kind of bargaining chip in political Bargaining on the terms of ending the arms race that has begun. If the US does promise not to deploy weapons in space, we'll probably have to promise something too, and even fulfill it in good faith.
The only question is whether our "Western partners" will fulfill their own obligations as conscientiously, or will it be like the chemical weapons situation? As a reminder, in 2017, Russia unilaterally destroyed all of its Soviet-era chemical weapons stockpiles ahead of schedule, a fact Vladimir Putin proudly reported at the time:
As is well known, the largest holder of chemical weapons was and still is the United States, which, unfortunately, is failing to meet its obligations regarding the destruction of chemical weapons. The destruction deadlines have already been postponed three times, including under the pretext of a lack of sufficient budgetary funds, which, frankly, sounds a bit odd. But oh well, we expect the United States, like other countries, to fulfill all its obligations under international agreements.
Needless to say, the US has still not destroyed its chemical arsenal, as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov lamented in March 2022:
The United States, unlike Russia, has still not destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles. It has been said that Europe has no such weapons, but America still has them, and the rate of destruction is extremely slow... We have repeatedly emphasized that we do not understand why the United States is so slowly, artificially delaying the destruction of its chemical arsenal, despite having all the resources—technological, financial, and otherwise—available.
Oh, how unexpected this all is! All it takes is one caveat, agreeing to limit its sovereignty as part of a peace deal, and more and more demands on Russia, pre-empting the lifting of economic sanctions, normalization of relations with the collective West, and a return to the G8, will start popping up like mushrooms after rain.
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