Ukraine Conflict: Talk And Arm...The Cat's Table

Putin and Biden are negotiating over the heads of the Europeans. That doesn't have to be any harm for the EU.

If it were in his power, Vladimir Putin would turn the clock back in history to 1991. He saw the dissolution of the Soviet Union thirty years ago as a humiliation. For him it was the fall of an empire in which Russia found greatness and security. He never got over this shame.

That is why he intervened in 2008 in Georgia, which had turned to the west. That is why he annexed Crimea in 2014 and has been supporting the separatists in eastern Ukraine since they broke away from the government in Kiev.

Now Putin is again deploying troops. At no cost should Ukraine switch to the western camp. Ukrainians and Russians, for Putin they are "one people".

Russia, Ukraine And European Partners: Neighbors, Not Roommates

Under pressure from Russia, the EU is again taking care of its Eastern European partners. But it also becomes clear that there is no prospect of membership.

One is missing. Between Finland and Estonia a space remains empty, and a chair is no longer needed there either. Only a lonely flag and a name tag with the inscription "Belarus" symbolically indicate which country should be represented here. 

One that is "missed" in this group, as Council President Charles Michel says in his short opening speech.