The West wants to convince the South of Russia’s sins in New York

While the world leadership and the highest diplomatic corps were at bay in New York, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization of the Russian population on Wednesday morning. In a televised speech, Putin accused “the West” of turning the Ukrainian people into “cannon fodder”. This year he will not attend the United Nations General Assembly, which will be held in New York this week.

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Awake Western politicians reacted with concern to the mobilization on Wednesday morning. According to Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Putin is “in a panic”. According to Rutte, this doesn’t necessarily make him more dangerous. Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Putin’s actions show that “his plan in Ukraine is failing”. German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck called the partial mobilization “another bad and wrong move by Russia”. According to Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Russia is trying to “further intensify the war”.

The threat of mobilization was already in the air on Tuesday when it was announced that the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia will be voted this week to join Russia.

The referendums were also immediately rejected by the leaders of the Western world. From New York, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it a “simulated referendum”, the French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of a “provocation”. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also saw Putin’s “new escalation” in the plans. The White House has “unequivocally” rejected the referendum.

‘Whoever is silent is an accomplice’

The question now is whether these two developments will affect Russia’s position on the world stage and the countries that have so far taken a neutral stance.

The Western anti-Russian coalition went to the United Nations just this week with a mission: How can we get more countries on our side in an effort to support Ukraine and isolate Russia? The Western diplomatic offensive must counterbalance the extraordinarily popular Russian narrative that Western sanctions have plunged poor countries into a triple crisis.

“It is not only Ukraine that is suffering from this war,” EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Tuesday after a meeting of EU ministers in New York. “The Ukrainian people are being bombed with rockets and guns, the rest of the world is hit by high energy prices, food shortages and economic problems. The war affects everyone and we want to explain it here in New York ”.

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Most of the members of the United Nations, mainly the poorer countries of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, prefer to remain neutral in the struggle between Putin and the West. Russia knows this and is doing everything it can to keep as many countries out of the Western camp as possible.

The West is now trying to gain ground with a fourfold strategy. With its history. With money, always an effective means. With more attention to the consequences of the war. And with, here and there, a few cutting words.

One after another, the Western leader points out to New York that Putin has violated the UN Charter with his war. Leaving such a violation unpunished opens the way to a world where wars of annexation are more common. It is therefore in everyone’s interest – even in the interest of countries that prefer to remain neutral – that international standards remain intact. The message to the leaders of the ‘Global South’ is clear: before you know it, it will be your country’s turn.

It is in everyone’s interest that international standards remain intact. Before you know it, it’s your country’s turn

Furthermore, the West stressed that it has an eye for problems outside Ukraine. The US and the EU, for example, have convened a special meeting on the food crisis with the African Union on the sidelines of the General Assembly. The President of the European Council Charles Michel stressed at that summit that the EU wants to tackle the food shortage, which affects 200 million people, with a fund of almost 8 billion euros.

French President Emmanuel Macron has lectured to countries that want to remain neutral. “They are wrong, they are making a historical mistake,” he said. “Those who are silent today are, so to speak, complicit in a new imperialism”.

‘Fatigue of Ukraine’

Immediately after the February invasion, Western countries transferred the UN debate on Ukraine from the Security Council, where Russia has a veto, to the General Assembly, where each country has one vote. On the night of the attack, the failure of the Fifth Council was moving: while the fighting had already begun, the council was still meeting to make a final appeal to Putin to refrain from violence. The meeting was led by Russia.

Initially, the General Assembly proceeded vigorously. The war was condemned, Russia was expelled from the Human Rights Council. Although the assembly’s actions did not have a direct effect on the war, its activism was surprising for a body of 193 members with little power.

After only a few weeks, Western diplomats spoke of “Ukraine fatigue”. Many countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, although in solidarity with Ukraine, do not want to repeatedly take action against Moscow. This has several reasons. A number of countries are still grateful to Russia for her support in the liberation struggle. Some countries have an economic interest in a good relationship with Russia and some even feel intimidated by Moscow.

Whoever is against Moscow is not automatically for the West. “In many countries, the impression has been created that the West cares only about Ukraine and has lost sight of the problems of the rest of the world,” said UN expert Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group. The western aspect was also not always subtle. “Some Western diplomats have clamored for support for their course in Ukraine, ignoring the food and energy problems caused by the war.”

In the global South, it is also bad that billions go to Ukraine, while Western countries fail to deliver on climate promises. And even poor countries haven’t forgotten that corona vaccines went to rich countries first. “The global South says: put your money where your mouth is,” said one diplomat.

Propaganda

Russia feeds discontent with the West wherever possible. The food shortage, economic malaise and energy crisis facing the world have been caused by Western sanctions, Moscow argues over and over again.

“We have to constantly counter Russian propaganda and its misleading narrative,” said EU foreign affairs chief Borrell. And he immediately debunked some Russian myths. The wheat deal, which made the export of Ukrainian wheat possible again, has already led to a drop in the price. Two thirds of Ukrainian exports ended up in poor countries and did not linger in the rich West. Western sanctions target the Russian war economy. The EU does not in any way prevent the export of fertilizers from Russia to countries outside the Union.

“We will continue to explain to our partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America who is the real culprit and show that the European Union does not forget crises in other parts of the world. For us it is not a choice between Ukraine and the rest of the world. This is what we will do this week. “

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