Diplomats Expulsion Crisis Signals Worsening of Western-Russian Relations
Brussels, MINA – The expulsion of over 100 Russian diplomats by the US and 17 European countries over the Salisbury incident is increasing fears of a return to the Cold War era, which could drag the rest of the world to take sides between the two camps.
The Cold War, that emerged after World War II between the now defunct Soviet Union and the West, led to the creation of two military alliances, the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) — which still exists — and the Soviet-led Warsaw pact, which collapsed after the disintegration of the USSR.
But many countries around the world were also compelled voluntarily or involuntarily to take sides either with the Western or the Soviet camps for the sake of their own security.
Although the ex-Soviet Union was a global player armed with a communist ideology to bring nations and people under its influence, the present Russia has no ideology but a robust military power and a growing hunger for global domination as evident in its military actions in Syria.
The West and Russia are already at odds in Syria, Libya, and Afghanistan.
The expulsion of Russia diplomats is said to be the most serious diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Impressive collective solidarity
The crisis also point to an impressive collective western solidarity with the UK, although EU-UK ties are currently bad due to the difficult Brexit negotiations.
“A potentially beneficial side effect of the alarming stand-off with Russia is that the solidarity with the UK shown by almost all of the EU states may have the effect of improving the atmosphere for the talks on Brexit” commented the Irish times newspaper.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk said the EU states had decided to expel Russian diplomats because the European bloc agreed with the UK government’s assessment that it is highly likely that Moscow is responsible for the poisoning of the ex-Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury in southern UK.
“Additional measures, including further expulsions within this common EU framework are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks,” he warned.
A buoyant British foreign secretary Boris Johnson tweeted that “today’s extraordinary international response by our allies stands in history as the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers ever. Russia cannot break international rules with impunity.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry in a first reaction said it considers this move “as an unfriendly act “and vowed to respond to it. Most probably Moscow will also expel a similar number of Western diplomats.
“The provocative gesture of notorious solidarity of these countries with London, blindly following the British authorities in the so-called “Skripal case” without bothering to clarify the circumstances of the incident, is a continuation of the confrontational line towards escalating the situation” said the Russian foreign ministry.
The expulsion of Russian diplomats will not harm Russian economic or trade interests but it will surely isolate Russia globally. To compare the situation with a football match it is like the West has 11 players and Russia only one on the field.
The current row between the West and Russia comes just as the US foreign policy team is changing significantly, with two anti-Russia hawks, former CIA chief Mike Pompeo taking over at the State Department and John Bolton at the National Security Council.
Moreover, Western governments could benefit from the current crisis to convince the public opinion in Europe to spend more money on defence and military. (T/RS5/RS1)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)