The US is leading the diplomatic offensive to isolate Putin: talks with Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand on a common gas strategy and with India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa to prevent “triangulations” with Moscow
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
WASHINGTON Yesterday, April 7, politicaldiplomatic attention was rightly focused on the presence of Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at the NATO summit in Brussels.
But representatives from Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand were also invited to the summit. An idea of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who at the time maintained bilateral relations with almost all of these countries’ counterparts.
For weeks, the US government has been trying to expand the network to target Vladimir Putin, including its Southeast Asian allies and Australia itself. All of these states could supply even more arms to Ukraine (Australia has already announced this).
In addition, the economic sanctions are not having the desired effect, at least not immediately (the Russian central bank even lowered the reference interest rate from 20 to 17 percent on Friday morning: “The risks to Russia’s financial stability are still there, but they have not increased for the time being,” he wrote in a note), and there is a risk that Russia could triangulate with other parts of the world in search of new customers for its raw materials and suppliers of consumer goods, especially high technology.
In Washington, therefore, they consider the commitment and vigilance of the Pacific allies to be essential. In addition, these partners can help Europeans break free from dependence on Russian gas.
Australia is one of the main producers and could therefore divert some of its exports to European ports. Japan and South Korea are among the most voracious consumers. The US is asking them to give up some of the American gas already booked in order to be able to increase flows to Europe again.
American diplomacy operates on another level as well. Yesterday, the State Department noted that some countries, including India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa, had abstained on a US proposal to oust Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. In the coming days, therefore, the pressure will increase on this front as well. It starts next week.
On Monday, April 11th, Blinken and Defense Secretary Llyod Austin will receive their Indian counterparts Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (Foreign) and Rajnath Singh (Defense) in Washington. The meeting, dubbed the “2+2 formula,” will come from China, but Americans will also insist on the need to isolate the Kremlin economically and politically.
April 8, 2022 (change April 8, 2022 | 11:42)
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