Russian President Vladimir Putin. File photoMOSCOW, July 8Russia has three important trump cards that allow it to competently build political interaction with the West against the background of the crisis in Ukraine, writes Ulrich Reitz in an article for Focus. «Russia has three levers that put it in a tactically advantageous position. These are partners, gas and peaceful negotiations. The West has fallen into a triple trap, even if someone may not like it,» the author noted. Reitz stressed that the West's attempt to isolate Russia diplomatically failed. He cites as an example the recent meeting of the foreign ministers of the G20 member countries, where many countries refused to criticize Moscow because of the situation in Ukraine. The article also notes that the West was not able to isolate Russia economically, since it is itself extremely dependent on its energy resources. The author confirms this, referring to the fears of the German government that the shutdown of the Nord Stream gas pipeline for maintenance could allegedly be delayed indefinitely. >The West predicted the failure of «the most powerful weapon of the United States» because of PutinFinally, the author stated that Moscow's readiness to negotiate on Ukraine, which Vladimir Putin announced, sends an important signal to those who advocate the lifting of sanctions in Europe, because, as stated President of Russia, the longer the conflict drags on, the more difficult it will be to agree. Since February 24, Russia has been conducting a military special operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine. Vladimir Putin called its task «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the president, the ultimate goal of the operation is the liberation of Donbass and the creation of conditions that guarantee the security of Russia itself. After the start of the Russian military special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, the West stepped up sanctions pressure on Moscow. Many countries have announced the freezing of Russian assets, calls have become louder to abandon energy from Russia. These measures turned out to be problems for the West itself — they led to an increase in inflation and food and fuel prices. Daily Express
