Q&A war: How long can Ukraine hold without America? Could a NATO army fight with Russia without us? | Answers Michael Clarke

“Once the invasion of Ukraine took place on February 24, 2022, Putin became the bet. And it was important, I think, for Europeans to maintain our paria status.” Michael Clarke’s security and defense analyst explain.

He explains that before the invasion, there was a parade of leaders who were trying to talk to him “to try to reason with him” and to convince him not to invade.

“Macron humiliated it three times to see Putin and every time he left saying,” Putin assures me he won’t invade Ukraine, “says Clarke.

But the Russian president said to everyone that he has no intention to invade – until the invasion begins.

Clarke notes that both the Orban in Hungary and the Erdogan of Turkey both spoke with little – but the first is “a supporter” of the Russian President, while the second “is understood as a mediator”.

“Remember that Putin is a war criminal charged under the international criminal court, so I will see, giving him this satisfaction, is something that Europeans do not want to do,” he says.

But he continues to emphasize that background diplomatic discussions have been “constant” since the war at much lower levels broke out, “under radar”.

“So it is not true that the West did not hire diplomatically with Russia,” he concludes.

“It has low levels and I think I can say that the only response that has returned from Russia is that they are asking for a full victory, the full teaching of Ukraine, and they will certainly not reverse the initial invasion.”