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Hopes and expectations for a partial normalization between Moscow, Washington and Kiev stepping off the warpath were brief and flickered only for a moment before being entirely extinguished.
On April 13, U.S. President Joe Biden held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White House statement on the matter was positive, optimistic even, saying that the two discussed a number of regional and global issues.
They agreed to pursue a strategic stability dialogue on a range of arms control and emerging security issues.
They spoke about Ukraine, and how Russia needs to put forward effort to de-escalate the situation.
In response, Putin outlined approaches to a political settlement based on the Minsk Package of Measures.
The counterparts agreed to meet for talks a month after the diplomatic crisis sparked by Biden’s claims that Putin was a “killer.”
The situation seemed to be largely defused, proven by the fact that the United States decided not to deploy two of its warships to the Black Sea and, in fact, recalled them.
Immediately after that, the Biden Administration turned around, with the US President signing an executive order sanctioning Russia, and recalling 10 ambassadors.
He declared a national emergency over Russia’s alleged threat and all aspirations of normalization quickly evaporated.
The US Secretary of State immediately said that he was “pleasantly surprised” by the position of all 30 NATO states against Russia’s presumed aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, Russian ambassadors were summoned to the Foreign Ministers of the UK and Poland.
It was a united front, two complete shifts in rhetoric within a single day.
The same day, Biden had a short speech, expressing hope of establishing a rapport with Russia.
It was a very cliché text, and he quickly bolted afterwards.
He answered two questions, including one regarding Nord Stream 2.
He simply ran out of text and left, solidifying any “conspiracies” regarding whether he’s actually in control of his own ship.
As a result of the instability in US politics, Russia said that it was considering to ditch the US dollar.
No other Biden Putin meetings are likely to take place, mostly due to the incredible hypocrisy shown within a single day.
Meanwhile, the situation in Ukraine appears to be heading towards deterioration.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the “Army is ready” and that the situation was under control, albeit there were “certain issues.”
While Moscow’s attention was focused on Washington, Turkey reportedly sent its troops to Ukraine.
According to Turkish media, Ankara’s specialists arrived to train Ukrainian soldiers in operating the Bayraktar TB2 drones.
April 15th may come down in modern history as the day a new war began, be it hot or cold.
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