Treat Russia with Atlantic unity

For weeks, protests against Russia’s destabilization of Ukraine have been going on with a large military presence on the border between the countries, the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula and the Black Sea.

Even in diplomacy Increases the magnitude of the front conflict. In the past week alone, Moscow has expelled a total of 30 ambassadors from the United States and the Czech Republic, respectively.

The U.S. deported him last week to sanctions by the Biden administration, which convicted the Kremlin of trying to influence the presidential election last fall.

They “recommended” that US Ambassador John Sullivan travel to Washington to discuss with the White House. His Russian envoy is already in Moscow to oppose Joe Biden calling Vladimir Putin a “murderer.”

This week, the Russians are expected They say no to themselves. Protests have been announced across the country since Wednesday, the same day the president will deliver his annual address to parliament.

The demonstrations are in response to the fact that Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption base and his staff across the country have been classified as extremists, which is seen as a declaration of war against the entire opposition movement ahead of the parliamentary elections this fall.

Contact with extremist organizations could lead to imprisonment and give the police new tools to quell protests.

Add to this the treatment of Navalny, who was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison in February. On Monday, he was taken to a tried and tested opposition politician Department of Medicine Kidney failure is suspected after several weeks of fasting. The purpose of the strike was to see an independent doctor – an understandable demand after the Kremlin’s recent attempt to poison Navalny.

Overall, it works It says nothing but that Russia’s progress is constantly going in the wrong direction. This is very worrying.

Unfortunately, it is difficult for foreigners to influence the Kremlin’s actions or their internal priorities on any large scale.

But Putin’s intimidation of his neighbors and his opposition to silence and obedience does not mean that the outside world should sit back and watch.

Instead, Sweden and the European Union should do everything they can to show our support for Ukraine, including providing assistance, training and security equipment.

We need to make sure that there are journalists in both Ukraine and Russia to ensure accurate information about what is going on.

We must also point out to the Kremlin that new persecution and violence against opposition figures, diplomats or journalists will have dire consequences.

As Martin Crock, the Russian director of foreign policy, argues, set red lines and act if they are violated. Interview This weekend SVT

Maximum effect required In addition to performance, the West is united. Sweden should strive for a common Russia line with the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Germany, and the next step should be to try to bridge the gap with the rest of the unions.

But the EU must join forces with Britain and the United States.

Unlike his predecessor, Joe Biden has so far set a precedent for Russia. Sanctions imposed last week have barred US banks and companies from trading in newly issued Russian government bonds.

In other words, Washington is not duck to give the Russian economy, that is, an expansion.

In practice, European banks are also likely to be indirectly shut down by these restrictions, which are mandatory if they want to retain the ability to trade or handle dollars.

But the EU and the UK should still introduce the same rules, if nothing else as a symbolic sign.

Like the White House The EU must also signal that the door to dialogue is open when Russian officials are ready to live up to our conditions.

In the meantime, we must continue to trade with our Russian counterparts who have common interests and promote educational and research cooperation, at least not in the field of vaccines.

Complete isolation of Moscow would increase the risks.

Frida Wallner