French President Emmanuel Macron continues to promote the idea of ​​providing Russia with security guarantees after the end of the war against Ukraine. In particular, at the beginning of December, he mentioned guarantees regarding the expansion of NATO. And recently he clarified: if the Russian Federation does not receive security guarantees from the West, a new war will cover the entire European continent.

Such rhetoric is not surprising, considering that although the perception of the situation has changed a lot in some European countries – France and Germany as well – compared to February 24, large groups of the population still support the “peace at any price” policy. They primarily defend their interests: prices for electricity, gasoline, and products. That is, they see bills, prices in stores, but do not understand the essence of what is happening. Conventionally speaking, they are supporters of the thesis, not everything is so unambiguous. And to be fair, it is worth noting that such a picture is characteristic of certain categories of Ukrainian citizens.

The statements of Macron, Scholz and others are not for us. They work for their audience

An additional factor is the many years of propaganda in Europe by the Russian media. Now, after they were blocked, Russia switched to another asset – the activation of “cans” around the world. The Kremlin has always paid a lot of attention to propaganda, bribing politicians and public opinion leaders. After February 24, these efforts were only intensified. The worse the Russian situation at the front, the more you can see “peaceful” statements, articles and proposals.

As for France, it has historically been Russophile for a long time. And this position has not changed even after 2014. Remember how many French people supported the pro-Putin Marine Le Pen already after the start of a full-scale war, although she promoted exactly pro-Russian messages about peace, about relations with Putin, about saving his face, etc. Or remember how Boris Johnson talked about the position of Macron, who did not believe that Putin would attack until the end. Also, Scholz believed for a very long time that it is necessary to deal with the economy and close one’s eyes to how Ukrainians will be killed “quickly and painlessly” by the Russians…

Politicians have one task – to raise their ratings and get re-elected. And for this, any statements that cannot be verified and which will then be forgotten will agree.

Therefore, the statements of Macron, Scholz and others are not for us. They work for their audience. They are politicians and create the illusion that they are agreeing on something somewhere, that they are somehow managing to achieve something… counting on the fact that the population will not understand much and everything will be fine. That is, politicians have one task – to raise their ratings and get re-elected. And for this, any statements that cannot be verified and which will then be forgotten will agree.

The human psyche works in such a way that a person believes what he wants to believe. On the one hand, Macron and Scholz themselves communicate directly with Putin. Therefore, their words are perceived as truth from the point of view that, they say, is it really the Russian dictator who would so openly deceive the leaders of European countries. On the other hand, it is unfortunate that our inferiority leads to the fact that the same Macron or Scholz seem more authoritative to some Ukrainians than domestic politicians.

However, the lack of critical thinking, which the Russians skillfully use, also affects here. For example, the story with alleged agreements regarding the enemy’s withdrawal of heavy equipment from the ZNPP.

This nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe. It covers 20% of Ukrainian energy. Right now, half of the country is without electricity due to the latest shelling by the Russians, who have already started firing their inviolable stockpile of missiles at Ukrainian critical infrastructure. Therefore, it is only necessary to turn on the brains to understand that in such conditions, all these stories about the withdrawal of Russian troops from the ZNPP and the transfer of the plant to the control of the IAEA are worthless. The Russians can’t hit our infrastructure with missiles with such a goal and give away a nuclear power plant that offsets most of our costs? Well, where is the logic here? That is, these are obvious things.

Therefore, returning to “peaceful” initiatives and ideas about “security guarantees” for Russia from European politicians, Ukrainians should not pay so much attention to them. Yes, we are sick of Ukrainian-centricity, and we perceive everything through this prism. But for European societies, our story is different. Therefore, it is worth considering: if the above-mentioned statements of European politicians create the illusion in their electorate that the war is coming to an end, they will calmly make them.

Maksym Yali, candidate of political sciences, professor of the National Aviation University, corresponding member of the Academy of Political Sciences of Ukraine