Russia (bbabo.net), - Vladimir Putin held talks with the new German chancellor, Olaf Scholz. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the leaders since Angela Merkel's departure, but the main topic, the situation in Ukraine and Russia's security guarantees, made it especially important. Russia does not want war, and therefore made proposals to ensure equal security in Europe, Putin said. Western colleagues agreed to continue the dialogue on this topic. Along with this, the leaders of Russia and Germany discussed economic cooperation and the future of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
The German chancellor's visit to Moscow was a continuation of the conversation that had already been started on providing Russia with long-term legal security guarantees. Before that, Vladimir Putin discussed this topic in the Kremlin with French President Emmanuel Macron and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. And with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, I talked on the phone, and, judging by the estimates, very thoroughly.
Scholz became the third European guest in the Kremlin in the last two weeks. The negotiations continued for more than three hours. And after them, the leaders went to the journalists and answered questions. The Russian leader stressed that the forceful containment of Russia by the West is a direct threat to national security.
“Russia cannot turn a blind eye to how the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance quite freely and in their favor interpret the key principles of equal and indivisible security, recorded in many pan-European documents,” Putin said.
And this principle includes not only the right to freely choose ways to ensure their security and enter into any military alliances, but also the obligation not to strengthen their security at the expense of the security of other states. "We're not moving towards NATO, but NATO is moving towards us," Putin never tires of explaining.
After meeting with the German Chancellor, journalists asked about a possible war in Europe. Putin recalled the bombing of Belgrade. “After all, you and I were witnesses of the war in Europe unleashed by the NATO bloc against Yugoslavia. “This is a very bad example, but it was,” he recalled. “Do we want this or not? Of course not," the Russian leader stressed. "That is why," he continued, "we put forward proposals for a negotiation process, the result of which should be an agreement on ensuring equal security for everyone, including our country."
Yes, we have not yet received a constructive response to our proposals, but we will continue to seek it through diplomacy. We want to resolve this issue "in the course of the negotiation process by peaceful means," Putin said. And most importantly - now. Moscow, he stressed, will not allow the negotiations on European security to be dragged out and its position to worsen.
Putin recalled that Russia has been told for 30 years that "NATO will not expand at all - not one inch towards the Russian borders," but today the alliance's infrastructure is already "right at our house." The issues of Ukraine's accession to NATO are now being discussed. "They say, as you said, it won't happen tomorrow. And when? The day after tomorrow? And what does it change for us in the historical perspective? Absolutely nothing," the president replied to a German journalist.
He spoke emotionally about the possible risks of escalation more than once. "Let's imagine that Ukraine is a NATO country and starts military operations in Crimea," Putin said after talks with the Hungarian prime minister. "Do you want France to fight Russia?" Putin asked a French journalist after talks with Macron.
Moscow's position is simple and logical: we are talking about our security, NATO's further movement to the east is unacceptable. It looks like the West heard it. "For us Germans and for all Europeans it is perfectly clear that sustainable security cannot be built against Russia, but only with Russia," Scholz said after the talks.
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View from Kiev
"Few people believe in the invasion"
Fyodor Tihovets, journalist, Kiev:- Kiev lives a normal life. True, over the past two weeks there have been noticeably fewer cars on the streets, traffic jams have disappeared during peak hours - probably, the newly-minted "kiyans" who have flooded the city over the past 8 years have hastily returned to their Western Ukraine. Theaters, cinemas and museums work, public transport runs. If there are fewer people, then this is more likely due to the "omicron". The number of foreigners also decreased. A week ago, in the most pretentious tourist places in the center of Kiev - on Volodymyrska Hill, Peyzazhnaya Alley, "Klitschko's glass bridge" - one could hear English, German, Polish speech, now - only Ukrainian and Russian.Store shelves are filled with groceries. Bars and restaurants are also not depopulated; on Friday evenings in the most popular tables must be booked in advance. The most suspicious and suggestible give in to panic. In transport and queues, there is always someone who is especially concerned about the question of what to do if "tomorrow Putin attacks." Topics range from "what to put in an emergency backpack" to "where to run in case of a bombing". But this is also discussed with a degree of irony, few people believe in the reality of war.
Mayor Klitschko personally undertook to inform the people of Kiev about the bomb shelters. There is an interactive map of the city with designations of shelters in the basements of houses, but it quickly became clear that many of them were unsuitable for this. The townspeople are outraged. The whole world was surrounded by frames with a grandmother aiming from a machine gun - she posed at the request of a Western photojournalist. But Ukrainian pensioners are busy now not with military training, but with survival. It is very difficult to live on the meager pensions that the majority receives.
View from Donetsk
"I'm not waiting for war. I'm waiting for spring"
Natalia Kaydash, teacher, Donetsk:- About our situation. War is a special form of life that you get used to. At some point, you suddenly realize that there can be no other life. But until you cross the border. We have a normal life (in our understanding). I am very worried about my son, he is an officer, has been serving since 2015. He volunteered after receiving a university diploma, he was very young, 21 years old. “Your Russian language, mother, must also be protected,” he reassured me then. Now all power structures of the DPR are on high alert. Children study remotely, many patients with covid. You know I don't expect war. I'm waiting for spring. And then what God will give.
And in our theater there is a constant full house, before the war this was not the case. Firstly, because all the performances were in Ukrainian, and secondly, I want to forget about what is happening around for at least a few hours, and the theater is the best suited for this purpose. You know, somewhere deep in my soul I have a kind of immunity. I hardly watch the news. For eight years, the soul has not only become hardened, but a certain indifference has appeared: come what may, I'm tired! I escorted my child to the war and waited from the war, missed a shell in a few minutes (I will never forget February 7, 2015), ran home from the market, and mines whistled over my head and lay down on a nearby street. I hate that ugly sound! During the shelling, I jumped with my teenage son into the basement. I was afraid that it would collapse in case of a hit. There was a period when it was scary to get into a minibus, it seemed to me that a shell would fly into it. I can’t watch films about the war, except perhaps “Only Old Men Go to Battle”! I can't be afraid anymore and I don't want to! And what can scare me already?
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