Germany Aims To Use G7 Admission To Pressure Russia To Resolve Conflict In Ukraine

Germany Aims to Use G7 Admission to Pressure Russia to Resolve Conflict in Ukraine

A recent statement by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas when he spoke out against including Russia into the G7 former until the Ukrainian conflict is resolved shows that Germany and other European countries aim to pressure Moscow into making efforts to settle the crisis in Ukraine, experts told Sputnik

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th July, 2020) A recent statement by German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas when he spoke out against including Russia into the G7 former until the Ukrainian conflict is resolved shows that Germany and other European countries aim to pressure Moscow into making efforts to settle the crisis in Ukraine, experts told Sputnik.

Maas' Monday statement came despite calls made by US President Donald Trump to hold an extended G7 meeting in Washington and invite Russia, Australia, South Korea and India to the summit, currently postponed until at least September.

Shortly after Maas issued his statement, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said that the value of the G7 today was highly questionable amid the existence of G20 and other international formats.

EUROPE HOSES TO USE G7 ADMISSION AS LEVERAGE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders intend to use admission to the G7 format to prompt Russia to try to settle the Ukrainian crisis, Michael C. Desch, the professor of international relations at the University of Notre Dame and director of the Notre Dame International Security Center, told Sputnik.

"I think that tying Russian admission to the G7 to the resolution of the Ukraine crisis is probably too complicated but politically I get that Merkel and other European leaders hope to use G7 admission as a lever with Russia to try to resolve it," Desch said.

According to the professor, incorporating Russia into the G7 makes sense, while adding other countries together with Russia will make Moscow's invitation look like "a part of the package"

Desch added that Moscow's admission into the G7 format would be helpful in stabilizing "East-West relations."

KEEPING RUSSIA CLOSER TO US THAN TO CHINA BENEFICIAL FOR WASHINGTON

The United States would benefit from improving relations with Russia by including the country in the G7 format and persuading Moscow to move away from Beijing amid the ongoing US-China tensions, Paul Poast, assistant professor at the University of Chicago's department of political science, told Sputnik.

"Russia is not viewed as democratic by the existing G7 countries and, unlike the other three "new G7" countries, Russia seems to be aligning with China. But there is great geopolitical value in having Russia more closely aligned with the US, than with China. A big debate in US foreign policy is whether to place more weight on Russia's actions in Eastern Europe and the middle East (not to mention in Western Europe and the United States), or place more weight on the potential of using Russia to isolate China," Poast said.

According to the assistant professor, the US, by making the proposal to expand the G7 summit, is trying to "make up" for the mistake of abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was signed by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the US in February 2016. The deal never took effect as Washington withdrew from it in January 2017.

By inviting South Korea, Australia and India to the meeting, the US is also trying to balance China's growing economic and military influence. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's recent remarks on the need to create an "alliance of democracies" against China fits into this agenda, Poast added.

UKRAINIAN CRISIS WON'T BE EVER RESOLVED

No one can make assumptions on when the Ukrainian crisis is over as the issue is too complicated, while Russia will never hand over the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine, D. Roderock Kiewiet, a political science professor at the California Institute of Technology, told Sputnik.

"Maas is either being disingenuous here or engaging in some casuistry. Who is to decide if and when the Ukrainian crisis is 'resolved,' or if it is even a crisis? In fact, as I understand it, the condition Maas insists upon is that Russia cede the Crimea (which is 2/3 Russian, 15 percent Ukrainian) back to Ukraine. That is never going to happen," Kiewiet said.

The professor added that Russia was not likely to be ever admitted to the G7 as the "crisis" will be never resolved.

According to Kiewiet, Trump's idea to expand the G7 meeting was "a very good one," but he was not likely to get credit for anything in the US media.

"The whole idea of the G7, G8 or whatever is to provide a forum for the countries with the largest and most important economies in the world. That include Russia. If Italy qualifies for inclusion in this group, then India and South Korea most certainly do as well, and a strong case can be made for Australia," Kiewiet said.

The professor also said that China could also be included if Beijing would start "playing by the rules."

DIVISIONS WITH NATO MEMBER COUNTRIES

Difference between rhetoric of Trump and Maas shows that NATO countries are divided on Russia, Thomas Whalen, an associate professor at Boston University's social science department, told Sputnik.

"I think Mass's view demonstrates how divided the G-7 and NATO-member countries are on the issue of Russia," Whalen said.

According to the associate professor, Germany and other western countries agree that Russia should be held accountable for the crisis in Ukraine, while the Trump administration "believes otherwise."

Whalen added that all the talking about the G7 summit is likely "about nothing" as the meeting will probably get canceled as the US remains the worst-hit country by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.