Electric, tense, explosive… Words are almost too weak to describe the atmosphere that reigns in Ukraine. After weeks of latent conflict, diplomacy seemed to have taken precedence over military bravado, especially with the displacement of Emmanuel Macron. Friday noon, the main information remained the explanation of the length of the table which separated him from Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. But the escalation of words suddenly came back to life, so much so that we thought everything could change. Story of a weekend spent monitoring a declaration of war.
US alerts
The atmosphere seemed to grow heavier as the list of countries recommending their nationals to leave Ukraine grew longer. The United States launched the movement on Friday morning, followed by Great Britain in the evening, then Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands on Saturday. At the same time, several countries launched the evacuation of their non-essential diplomatic personnel. After a meeting of Western countries in the afternoon, the White House sounded the alarm early in the evening, explaining fears that the Russians do not wait until the end of the Olympics to attack. Even, that war could be declared during the weekend.
Let’s fight. More responsive than everyone else, Emmanuel Macron gets an appointment with Vladimir Poutine for the next day, at 12:30 p.m. Saturday was in fact a long series of phone calls between leaders: Macron-Putin, Biden-Putin,
Blinken (US Secretary of State)–
Lavrov (Russian Foreign Minister)Macron-
Zelensky (Ukrainian President)… The military incident, so dreaded on the outskirts of an over-armed border, nearly intervened where it was not expected: in the Pacific, the Russian navy announcing that it had put to flight an American submarine marauding in its territorial waters.
Russia and Ukraine denounce the American “panic”
The US military denied this on Sunday morning. But for the first time since the start of the conflict, Kiev and Moscow have had the opportunity to speak with one voice, denouncing the “hysterical” attitude of the Americans, multiplying alarmist announcements which “cause panic”. In an attempt to calm the escalation on the Western side, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Joe Biden on Sunday.
But it was Germany that put a coin back into the machine on Sunday. Criticized by the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin for its discretion, the government of Olaf Scholz then multiplied the speeches. Firstly to recall that sanctions, both financial and on exports to Russia, would be “immediately” put in place in the event of war. Then to throw all “responsibility” on Moscow if a conflict broke out.
To maintain a semblance of serenity, Ukraine announced the maintenance of the opening of its airspace, despite the suspension of KLM flights. And level troops? Russia has launched a naval exercise along the coast of Crimea, while the United States withdrew its 150 soldiers stationed in Ukraine to deploy 3,000 in Poland. The pieces are moving on the board, but no one seems determined to make the first move.