‘Europe is sidelined’: Russia meets US in Geneva and Nato in Brussels

After months of sabre-rattling from Vladimir Putin over, Russian officials have been on a diplomatic tour of Europe this week, meeting the US in Geneva and Nato in Brussels. Amid this diplomatic whirl, Europe’s biggest diplomatic club has been absent. The EU has no formal role in the talks, although its officials are drawing up possible sanctions to levy against Russia if the Kremlin decides to invade Ukraine.

Not everyone buys this reassuring story about Europe’s absence from the top table. “It gives me huge concern,” Radosław Sikorski, a Polish former foreign minister, who now sits in the European parliament, told the Guardian. “The EU is a neighbour of both Ukraine and Russia, these are countries with whom we have intense relationships. And what happens between them affects several member states. Of course we should be there and I am astonished that we are not.

Another Russian invasion of Ukraine is an obvious big test for “sovereign” Europe. More than 100,000 Russian troops are stationed around Ukraine’s borders and US intelligence has reported thatEU leaders have warned of “massive consequences” in response to any further military aggression against Ukraine. The precise consequences are a closely-guarded secret, as officials believe telegraphing the details would advantage Putin by allowing him to calibrate his response.

Diplomatic sources suggested a full-scale invasion would unify the EU to act, whereas a continuing campaign of Russian hybrid attacks, disinformation and support for proxy forces in the Donbas makes the decision more difficult. European countries trade more with Russia and have more to lose than the US, making the sanctions calculus more complex.

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