"I'm told Vladimir Putin is no longer the man I knew. I'm not convinced. [...] He's not irrational."
🇷🇺🇪🇺 "Russians are Slavs. They are different from us. The discussion is always difficult and has given rise to many misunderstandings in our common history. Despite this, we need them and they need us."
"[Merkel and I] didn't want to let Putin drift into the anti-Western paranoia that has long been the temptation of Russian leaders. The Kremlin's encirclement complex is an old story."
"Putin was wrong. What he did [in Ukraine] was serious and resulted in failure. But once you've said that, you have to move on and find a way out. Russia is Europe's neighbor and will remain so."
"Diplomacy, discussion and exchange remain the only means of finding an acceptable solution. Without compromise, nothing will be possible, and we run the risk of things getting out of hand at any moment. This powder keg could have fearsome consequences."
"The annexation of Crimea in 2014 was a clear violation of international law. But when it comes to this territory, which was Russian until 1954 & a majority of whose population has always felt Russian, I think any turning back is illusory."
"Ukraine is a link between West and East. It must remain so. We're in the process of making false promises that won't be kept. Just like those made to Turkey for decades.
"Ukraine is a bridge between 🇪🇺 and Russia. Asking Ukraine to choose between these two entities seems to me contrary to the history and geography of this complex region. And it would be naive to believe that the fall of Putin would change anything."
"Political debate now reacts only by impulse and reflex to images that shock and erase all in-depth reflection."
"We need to let emotions subside. And acknowledge mistakes after the fact. It's never anyone's fault. The rule has become one of media posturing and generalized irresponsibility. This is not progress for democracy.
What do you think of this statement by the former French president on the war in Ukraine?
In answering this, I think it is best to first state the perspective I come from rather than leave it implied.
First I don't think anybody considers Putin, a convicted war criminal, is irrational. Second I don't think the West is seen to be a threat to Russia per se.
However, the West & Ukraine are an existential threat to Russia as a Great Power. In the old world order, a Great Power was entitled to it's spheres of influence and border countries. I like watching street interviews of Russians and it seems a good many think Russia is entitled to be an empire and to have subordinated countries around it. I largely take this view from Anders Puck Nielsen.
Extrapolating from this perspective, then it is not good from a Great Power viewpoint to be in the West and trade with other countries the way France does etc. Because you are not being a GP in that case but instead another cog in the US hegemony.
So it follows I don't think much of the former presidents view you have listed except the first that Putin is not irrational. The comments are mostly founded in realpolitik and a consequence of that is Ukraine needs to a subservient part of Russia if Russia wants that as a USSR 2.0.
Russia walked itself into a trap it can't get out of. Victory in Ukraine will cost them so much that it will take them decades to recover their treasure, military strength and international prestige. NATO will fight Russia to the last Ukrainian
