What none of those coming up with headlines at news outlets managed to perceive with regard to the French President’s Ukraine mission (i.e. visit to Russia), is the profound symbolism that Macron’s visit—given the timing and circumstances—bears for Russia as a country, and President Putin in particular. Though it may not be the fundamental change in European-Russian relations that Russia and Putin long for, it constitutes a favorable grand gesture towards that eventuality, nevertheless. Simply put, it signifies that the current Russia-Ukraine crisis, above all else, remains, first and foremost, an European affair; which somehow implies, or at least suggests, that Russia is not a foreign body from the European whole.
Europe has always been and will forever continue to be at the very heart of Russia’s foreign policy. That should not come as a surprise to no one, since Russians have time and again—in the most ardent manner—construed their national identity, in a cultural sense, in relation to the old continent. As a matter of fact, Russia’s main point of contention with Western Europe is the latter’s structural organization in an alliance led by the United States and treats Russia as an outcast;—even worse, as a permanent threat; in a word, NATO.
In taking the initiative—more so, leading and owning it [emphasis added]—President Macron signaled that Russia is not perceived as an alien [emphasis added] superpower to Europe—or, an excommunicated family member, for that matter—that any business with whom must needs be conducted under the cloak of the United States or NATO. With so much simplicity, and as much of a natural pavement from the French toward conciliatory diplomacy as it were, it conveyed an openness and inclusiveness towards Russia, in the folds of which one could subconsciously discern the message: “let’s sort out this item of business within the European household.”
Perhaps, this could be the first small stone carried away in the process of moving the mountain, as Confucius once reasoned that: “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
No matter how negligible—even inconsequential—it may seem to be, the non-alienation of Russia from Europe is, in effect, the first small stone to be carried away from that mountain of uneasiness that overshadows European-Russian relations.
Thanks to President Emmanuel Macron!
Related Publications: “It Is Now Bound to a Single Act of Faith: Overcoming the 1999 Kosovo and the 2014 Ukraine Syndromes;” “Zelensky’s Ukraine: An Asset or a Liability for the United States?;” “A Game of Signals: Germany at the Fore, but Europe at the Center;” “Understanding Vladimir Putin: President Putin WON’T ‘Invade and Occupy’ Ukraine.”
