France, Germany Have Reason To Be Pro-Active During Renewed Normandy Talks - Experts

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th January, 2022) The revival of the Normandy format offers some hope as the crisis around Ukraine continues to escalate, with Germany and France having reason to be more pro-active, experts on the former Soviet republics have told Sputnik.

On Wednesday, advisers to the leaders of the Normandy Four countries � France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia � held a meeting in Paris. While there has been almost no progress, the sides agreed to meet again in Berlin in two weeks, according to Kremlin Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak.

"Not much progress for sure, but they'll meet again soon. It is important to realize that Germany and France will be much more present and active, with 'heavyweights' in these talks. It is an election year for President (of France Emmanuel) Macron and he wants to improve his posture as international decision-maker, working for peace in Europe," Nina Bachkatov, a professor of political science from the University of Liege in Belgium, said, adding that Germany, for its part, "does not want its investment in Nord Stream 2 reduced to nothing."

Bachkatov also thinks that the European Union could resolve the conflict by addressing the root cause, i.e. language and cultural issues.

"The Europeans can help defuse these linguistic tensions by pressure on Ukraine. France and Germany have more leverage now through the Normandy format and should really invest themselves in it," the professor said.

Her colleague, Laetitia Spetschinsky from the UCLouvain university in Belgium, shows a similar cautious optimism about the relaunch of Normandy format discussions, saying that France has a long experience of international format negotiations and the new German government has time to try to defuse the Donbas conflict.

"With regard to the discussions in the Normandy format which deal with the resolution of the Donbas conflict, we can expect that German and French diplomats will go all out," Spetschinsky estimated, adding that while the Normandy format is not a panacea, things bode well for the coming meetings.

At the same time, the peace process is hampered by the ongoing stand-off between Moscow and Washington regarding a new security framework in Europe.

"The hyper-mediatization of 'public' diplomacy between Americans and Russians in recent months has made any diplomatic compromise nearly impossible. The American response to Moscow and the Russian disappointment are not the last act, but should be a pivot of the Geneva discussions," Spetschinsky stated.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which refused to recognize the new central government, which came to power after what they considered a coup. Another reason for secession could be the repeal of a 2012 law that allowed Russian and other minority languages to be used in Primary schools, courts and other state institutions. The resolution of the conflict has been discussed in various formats, including the Normandy Group.