Editorial: The West wants a united front against Putin, but Germany and France have their limits
It has become a truism to say that Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has seen the west unite in ways that were unheard of even a few years ago. So the argument goes, countries across Europe and north America have rallied fast to the cause of freedom, no matter the consequences – spiking energy bills, privately peeved industrialists, and supply chain gum-ups just a price to be paid.
But it is already clear that there are limits, most notably in Europe’s two main powers. Yesterday Emmanuel Macron’s government effectively gave the nod to Renault to recommence operations in Russia; the firm’s largest shareholder being, of course, the French government. There has still not yet been sufficient political pressure on TotalEnergies to pull out entirely from its Russian arrangements, either. With the greatest respect to Kwasi Kwarteng, it appears that a call from the business secretary here was enough to get BP and Shell to reconsider their relationships; it is hard to imagine that a direct ask from President Macron would have been ignored, so we can only assume he hasn’t given one. As for Macron’s diplomatic efforts, his calls with Vladimir Putin do not appear to have been particularly effective.
And in Germany, too, there remains significant opposition to the sort of punishment on Russia that might really make Putin think twice: a total embargo on energy exports from the country. German politicians are fearful the lights will go out. Indeed there are now reports that Germany is looking for a pause on further sanctions to test their ‘effectiveness.’ Ask the citizens of Mariupol whether sanctions have gone far enough.
There is no ‘perfect’ response to Russian aggression, nor has any country got everything right. But for all the tough rhetoric we saw at the start of the conflict from Berlin and Paris, we can already see signs of an unwillingness to sacrifice their own commercial and political interests if this war drags on. Let us hope it is not a sign of things to come.