The Russian diplomat told who broke the French president's crystal dream
After the end of the Cold War, a historic opportunity to launch large-scale cooperation in Europe was missed.
Russian Ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin stated this in an interview with Izvestia, noting that the main problem in relations between the Russian Federation and the European Union is the lack of strategic trust.
“The sanctions were a consequence of the crisis in Ukraine, and it, in turn, happened due to previously accumulated negative aspects. In the post-Cold War era, a historic opportunity was missed to launch large-scale cooperation in Europe, based on a common security space. Charles de Gaulle also spoke about the space from the Atlantic to the Urals, after the Cold War we were talking about the territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,” the diplomat said.
According to him, this project was possible, but Russia was not to blame for its failure.
“The inertia of thinking, the expansion of NATO, the attempt to quickly take control of the geopolitical space in eastern Europe - all these are manifestations of the short-sighted policy of our Western partners. In the modern world, it is impossible to make decisions without taking into account the global context. Today, Europe is no longer the nerve center that determines the fate of the world, as it was during the Cold War,” he concluded.
Russian version :: Read in English: A Russian diplomat revealed who shattered the French president's crystal dream.