It Ain't Over till the_______Sings!
It’s still unclear who will fill in the blank above, but for the first time since this face-off began, it appears the key protagonists, Presidents Biden and Putin, are looking for a way out of it. Both have played respectable games of brinkmanship and both have too much to lose if it goes much farther.
Politico reports:
“U.S. President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed to hold a bilateral summit, followed by a meeting with all relevant parties, on the security situation in Europe, after both leaders spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday, the Elysée said.
But the meeting “can only be held on the condition that Russia does not invade Ukraine,” the Elysée said in its readout of the calls.
Macron spoke with Putin twice on Sunday, the first time for an hour and 40 minutes and the second for an hour, as Western leaders attempt to de-escalate the crisis…”
This is geopolitics in living color. Over the last few days China has been calling for a negotiated solution to Ukraine. That’s big. China’s made it clear that its support for Russia against NATO expansion does not extend to Russia invading Ukraine. China doesn’t want its relationship with the US and Europe to spiral further down than it already has, especially for an issue disconnected from its national interest. That’s a key incentive for Russia to pull back.
French President Macron is not giving up his conviction that the Russia-Ukraine dilemma can be resolved peacefully. Even with the rhetoric at fever pitch, both Biden and Putin hold diplomacy open as an option.
This crisis is begging to be resolved. All the pieces are in place. The big question is if they can do it? Can they put aside the last half of the 20th century and set a model for diplomacy, instead of war, to reign in the 21st? At least Biden and Putin have each others’
full attention and are willing to talk through President Macron.