As tensions grow between the Kremlin, the United States and Europe in relation to the Ukrainian crisis and Western countries are working on a package of economic sanctions, the prestigious “Financial Times” announced on Tuesday, January 25th, evening a surprise videoconference meeting between Vladimir Putin and the main Italian companies present in Russia.
The meeting had been agreed in November by the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce chaired by Vincenzo Trani, founder of Delimobil (a car sharing company based in Luxembourg and operating in Russia of which the former Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi is on the board) and by the Italian-Russian Entrepreneurial Committee.
The meeting was supposed to be chaired jointly by Marco Tronchetti Provera, CEO of Pirelli and Dimitri Konov, number one of the Russian petrochemical group Sibur.
Financial Times lists the names of the participants such as Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel, Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, Antonio Fallico, president of Intesa Sanpaolo for Russia. While for Generali the CEO Philippe Donnet should have been there, but once the news leaked, they announced the presence of the president Gabriele Galateri.
Eni caught by the embarrassment immediately specified that it would not participate in the meeting, either through the CEO Claudio Descalzi or other members of the company. The Farnesina has declared that “it is a private initiative at an entrepreneurial level, in which the ambassador does not participate”.
The summit will also be attended by important Russian managers such as Igor Sechin, number one of the oil giant Rosneft, very close to Putin, and Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund.
A business meeting, like those that often happen, but that creates embarrassment, due to the timing rather than the event itself. It comes in the midst of the most serious diplomatic-military crisis of recent years on the borders of Europe, thus creating a diplomatic case.
The meeting would take while Europe and the United States try to agree on a common line towards Moscow. Germany, France and Italy are the most cautious countries on the hypothesis of punitive sanctions against Russia.
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In December 2021, the EU issued a statement saying that an armed aggression against Ukraine would have “massive consequences and heavy costs”.
But still the foreign policies of the various European chancelleries are not able to clarify what these measures will be, leaving room for cracks and weaknesses within the Western bloc.
While the US and the UK seem determined and in tune in their support for Ukraine, Europe finds it more difficult to maintain a unified stance.
When US President Joe Biden announced plans to deploy potentially 8,500 troops to Central and Eastern Europe to help and support NATO defense in the event of a Russian attack, officials from Brussels, Berlin, Rome and Paris were careful in their position in this crisis.
Germany, for example, sees no imminent danger. Olaf Scholz said to be open to “constructive dialogue” with Russia and he is one of the most cautious EU leaders.
Following the meeting held in Paris on the Ukrainian crisis between Macron and Olaf Scholz, in a press conference at the Elysée, Macron specified that there is no intention to “renounce dialogue with Russia” and anticipated that the interview with Putin will be held on Friday, January 28th.
From Rome, Prime Minister Mario Draghi after participating in a videoconference with US President Joe Biden and NATO allies to discuss the Western response to Russia’s military strengthening, said that trade ties make the difficult the hypothesis of severe sanctions. A position that had already been expressed on previous occasions.
Europe, as it also happened during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, is gripped by dilemmas and cannot see the crisis for what it is. Dependence on gas, trade links, the lack of a common foreign and security policy with limited military capabilities become crucial.
But if the situation becomes more and more tense and war is by no means excluded. An option, however, that seems to worry Washington more than Brussels. The most important step so far are the moves towards Baltic republics such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which could be at risk if the situation deteriorates.
European powers are already sending reinforcements: Denmark, for example, is sending a frigate and F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania; Spain is sending four fighter jets to Bulgaria and three ships to the Black Sea to join NATO naval forces, while France is ready to send troops to Romania.
Meanwhile, Kiev is calling for an attitude of intransigence with Moscow. Ukraine “will not allow anyone to impose concessions” on Russia as part of efforts to de-escalate the crisis that has erupted along its borders. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba declared this to CNN, rejecting the scenario of an overly accommodating attitude towards Moscow and its maneuvers at the gates of the country. “If anyone makes concessions on Ukraine, behind Ukraine – he remarked – we will not accept it. We will not be the country that picks up the phone, listens to instructions from the great power and follows them ».
In such a situation one thing is certain. Possible sanctions against Russia will most likely incur a cost to European economies, but any aggression against Ukraine will be worse and must be sanctioned.
Meanwhile, the United States has initiated a dialogue with European countries, with Qatar and with the main energy companies to counter a scenario in which the possible Russian invasion of Ukraine will lead to cuts in gas supplies to Europe. This is what sources of the Biden administration explain, speaking of a “preparation of emergency plans” in the event that Vladimir Putin cuts supplies in retaliation for the economic sanctions that would be launched against Russia in response to the invasion.
Washington and Brussels must send a unitary, clear and determined message. Vladimir Putin knows how to play very well where he finds a power vacuum. As it did in the Middle East, with the US emerging from the scenarios. He also knows how to play with divisions among Europeans. Giving to him this opportunity would be disastrous.
The stakes are high. It is about the future of our continent, the European one.
