From Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin, Russian history passes through Versailles – Pierre Haski

Five years ago the newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron invited Vladimir Putin to visit him, choosing the famous palace of Versailles and its gallery of mirrors to take some customary photos. Five years later, on 10 and 11 March, again in Versailles, France hosts the 27 representatives of the European Union. At the center of the discussions, of course, is Vladimir Putin.

In 2017 and in the following years Macron bet on dialogue with the Russian president, despite the reluctance of a part of Europe and also of France (remember when the president asked his diplomats not to row against it). This dialogue today allows us to respond to the argument of “humiliation” put forward by the defenders of Russia, but we must note that so far it has led to nothing. Putin was obviously not interested.

Today Europe and the world witness in amazement what the Washington Post described on March 9 with a shocking headline: “An Iron Curtain falls over Russia”. The new Iron Curtain comes sixty years after the one wanted by Stalin’s USSR, which had split Europe in two during the Cold War.

Russia has taken a huge step back in all respects. Economically, the impact of the sanctions has plunged the ruble (which has lost 75 percent of its value) and will force Moscow into a debt default. Foreign companies leave the country and those that remain put the best in a bad situation. The Russian oil and gas that Putin uses as a weapon are losing their strategic value.

But the new Iron Curtain has a primarily psychological impact. The exodus of middle-class Russians is unprecedented, impoverishing this talented country.

Many young people who work in the field of technology (precious resources of the future) travel on the train from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, one of the rare ways out of the country, along with hundreds of journalists who have seen independent newspapers closed, while the Russian internet has separated from the global one, following the Chinese model.

Putin has chosen confrontation, and the priority of the 27 is clearly the war in Ukraine, with the influx of millions of refugees into Europe and the strengthening of the Union’s defense capabilities.

But a consequence of this war is also the urgent need to reduce today’s dependencies (energy with respect to Russia, technological with respect to China), which is the antithesis of globalization developed in recent decades. Europe has the size to do so, having ignored this aspect of its sovereignty for too long. It will be discussed at the Versailles Summit.

In 1717, Tsar Peter the Great visited the court of Versailles, where he picked up the young Louis XV, just eleven at the time. Peter the Great had approached Europe by finding inspiration for the creation of his empire. Three centuries later, Putin made a different choice, that of isolation and aggression. The 27 will have to draw the necessary conclusions.

(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)