Brazilian Lula's minefield

Brazilian President Lula's proposal for "mediation by a group of neutral countries" is like a minefield, only a diplomatic one. First, it supports the Russian logic that this is a war between Russia and the West, which means that the Kremlin has its own "legitimate" security interests in it. In the non-Western world, there is a deep-rooted antipathy to the West in general and the United States in particular. At the moment, they feel that they have a chance to get rid of the "tutelage" of the United States and the West and are very much afraid of sanctions - financial or otherwise - if they do not adhere to recognized international principles. The "international conceptualization" suits them.

“In the non-Western world, there is a deep-rooted antipathy to the West in general and the United States in particular. At the moment, they feel that they have a chance to get rid of the "tutelage" of the United States and the West and are very much afraid of sanctions - financial or otherwise - if they do not adhere to recognized international principles”

Secondly, it is beneficial for the non-Western world to end hostilities on any compromise terms, both in terms of the present and the future. The non-Western world understands the world in the logic of "exchange," which is fundamentally different from our "Good vs. evil, betrayal vs. victory" logic.

And thirdly, if this process starts, it will take on a life of its own, it will quickly become not about us, about Ukraine, but about the West-not-West relationship, about resetting the world architecture, money, and so on. We will quickly be lost there, becoming just one element of the "bargaining". Which, of course, would suit Russia, because Lavrov ‘jumped’ to Brazil immediately after the Brazilian president's visit to Beijing. He knew what to talk about there.

All this does not mean that there is no need to talk to the Chinese or Brazilians. On the contrary. But we should not create any "mediation groups" with an unclear mandate and their own interests, which will have their own agenda, fundamentally different from ours.

Source

About the author. Pavlo Klimkin, diplomat, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.