This is the big RT headline: Putin and Macron agree on measures to halt escalation in Ukraine.

Here is a machine translation of the official French statement:

Telephone interview with Vladimir PUTIN, President of the Russian federation.

The President of the Republic held a telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation, Mr. Vladimir PUTIN, on Sunday, February 20.

They agreed on the following points :

– the resumption of piece of work under the Normandy format on the basis of exchanges and proposals made by Ukraine in recent days.

– intensive work to permit the belongings of a trilateral contact group meeting in the coming hours with the objective of obtaining from all stakeholders a ceasefire delivery on the line of contact.

– the need to give priority to a diplomatic solution to the current crisis and to do everything possible to achieve information technology. For this, intensive diplomatic work will be conducted in the coming days and weeks. The Minister for Europe and Foreign Diplomacy, Mr. Jean-Yves LE DRIAN, will run across with his counterpart Mr. LAVROV in the coming days and several consultations will exist held in Paris to this effect.

– this diplomatic work should make it possible to make progress on the basis of the latest exchanges by involving all stakeholders (Europeans, allies, Russians and Ukrainians) in order to lead, if the conditions are met, to a meeting at the highest level with a view to defining a new society of peace and security in Europe.

– in society to acquit this work in serious conditions, the two Heads of State made firm commitments to take all necessary actions to avoid escalation, reduce risks and preserve peace.

So what is going on here?

Commencement, the obvious: Macron wants to win the upcoming presidential election in France and existence the "savior of Europe" would requite him something to brag about.

2nd, the no less obvious: Macron is trying to bypass his Anglo "partners" since neither the United states of america nor the UK want anything short of an open Russian armed services intervention in the Ukraine.  Notice the words "all stakeholders (Europeans, allies, Russians and Ukrainians)" which mentions neither the US nor the Great britain ( here "allies" is just an empty but politically correct placeholder term).

Third, and that is obvious also: the Anglos don't requite a damn near Macron or his plans.

Which all begs the question: why does Putin even carp?

The reply, all the same, points to a different kind logic on the Russian side.

Starting time, Putin and Lavrov take as a policy to talk to (near) everybody ("Ze" existence the electric current exception).  This is the Russian way of affairs: talk to countries that are each other's mortal enemies, like Israel and Iran and talk to not-entities like Scholz or Truss.  The Kremlin does not intendance how difficult Lavrov or Putin need to "hold their mental noses" when talking to dishonorable, cowardly, liars if that gets them some tangible do good (more than near that in a sec).

And the Russians will always practice everything in their ability to avoid war, small or large.

Folks in the West are used to "western affairs" in which you only talk (i.e. "give orders") to your colonies, never talk to your opponents (who are always demonized) and where Non negotiating is seen equally a sign of "strength".

In Russia not negotiating every bit a principle is seen as just stupid and counter-productive.

Furthermore, while Macron clearly wants to repeat the "feat" of Zarkozy who claimed (falsely!) to have stopped the 08.08.08 war, the Russians encounter another very tangible do good of talking to Macron: creating even more than divisions in the West equally a whole and in Europe specifically.

Consider this: the Russian ultimatum has already had a lot of highly positive furnishings:

  • The US/NATO, afterwards years of totally ignoring Russia, are not only willing to talk to the Kremlin, they are even picking upwards past Russian proposals and presenting them as their own.
  • Europe is agape, very agape.  Non merely of a major war with all that implies (including waves of refugees), simply also from an energetic/economic collapse in case the Us/UK prevail.
  • The Ukros in power have of a sudden realized that they might exist targeted.  Personally.  Hence the flight of Ukie oligarchs to the Eu and "Ze" "trip to Europe to participate in the Munich conference".
  • The Chinese at present see that Russian federation is committed (I will clarify to what exactly below) and are throwing their considerable weight behind Russia.

Y'all could use a Russian expression and say that Putin stuck a big stick in the Westward's "anthill" and the said ants are now running around like crazy.

In that one single move, Russia achieved more than over several decades and, so far, she achieved that at a truly pocket-sized price.

Having said that, I demand to echo something crucial here:

==>>This is NOT, repeat, NOT nigh the LDNR or even the Ukraine.<<==

Russia (and China!) wants a different multi-polar world lodge, ane based on the full sovereignty of all countries, one in which international police force serves as the ground for relations between sovereign states, one in which security is always defined and understood as collective security and one in which the United Nations remain the sole top dominance to enforce the rules of international police.

The Kremlin often says that it wants a new security arrangement in Europe.  And that is true.  But, allow's not exist naive here, the US domination over its European colonies is the cornerstone of Anglo earth domination, so if the US/U.k. "lose" Europe, they will be finished as wannabe globe hegemons.

The Russians and the Chinese are now leading the entire Zone B towards this goal by a careful mix of unilateral policies including the gradual de-dollarization of Eurasia and the free energy markets, armed forces pressure level on the U.s.a. and its colonies and by developing their Existent economies (equally opposed to the West'due south FIRE economies).

Okay, but what does that mean in practice?

That is too early to tell.

First, permit'southward encounter what, if annihilation, comes out of the French initiative.

Second, Macron'due south initiatives volition have zero bear on on the LOC in the LDNR were exchanges of fire are constantly taking place only where, at least so far, the Ukies did not launch a ground attack across the LOC.  But they might, literally whatever second now, both sides are fully prepared for such an upshot.

Then in that location is the very real risk of a major false flag event organized by the Anglos.  The entire AngloZionist propaganda auto is at present poised to instantly "pick up" such a false flag and blame it all on Russia.  I don't see how Macron could do annihilation almost that, fifty-fifty assuming he wanted to in the first identify.

And so let's not jump to conclusions and see what happens adjacent calendar week with both Macron and Blinken.

In the meantime, the Ukies are trying to scare the planets with rumors about them ditching their not-nuclear status and develop nukes.  Delight practice non worry about that, at most what the Ukies can do is brand a "dingy bomb", but they exactly *nada* change to ever acquire real nukes (and, besides, if such a risk was even remotely existent, Russia would accept any and all deportment to eliminate whatever such possibility).

The Ukies also sent a diversionary grouping into the LDNR but the local land security quickly intercepted them: 1 Ukie dead, one taken prisoner.  2 lightly wounded in the LDNR special forces.  Below is the video of that anti-terrorist operation.

Andrei

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