Russia has been gradually isolated from participating in global processes, the U.S. government discusses the possibility of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, and Hungary blocked an EU aid package for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the U.S. is trying to warn the U.K. and EU of the possible implications of China’s attack on Taiwan.
offers a digest of Western mass media at the end of the November 7–11 business week.
The UN is further isolating Russia from participating in global processes
The Russians have been barred from key UN structures. Photo: the UN
Russia is not only having military troubles in Ukraine, but also becoming more isolated internationally, The Washington Post writes.
Thus, organizations affiliated with the United Nations purge Moscow’s representatives from leadership positions. The General Assembly has condemned Russia’s assault on Ukraine twice by overwhelming margins: on March 2, 141 countries voted to demand Russia’s unconditional withdrawal, and on October 12, 143 condemned the annexation of Ukrainian territory.
The only countries that backed Russia were Belarus, Eritrea, Nicaragua, North Korea and Syria.
Russia’s isolation will be dramatized next week by President Vladimir Putin’s absence from the Group of 20 summit, historically a favorite forum for Russia.
The most significant diplomatic reversals have involved the internet, the Post’s columnist points out. A year ago, the Kremlin was campaigning for a Russian candidate Rashid Ismailov, a Russian former deputy minister of communications, to lead the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union.
However, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, an American, was elected secretary-general of the ITU in September. Moreover, at the ITU’s September-October meeting in Bucharest, Russia failed to win a seat on the group’s 48-member council, its 12-member Radio Regulations Board or any of its three oversight bureaus.
Russia’s other internet initiatives have also stalled. Moscow’s plan to write a new U.N. pact to replace the 2001 Budapest Convention on Cybercrime has been put on hold: its proposal to continue overseeing internet issues through a Russian-backed "Open Ended Working Group" was supported by only 12 nations, while a U.S.-backed alternative had 50 sponsors.
The invasion of Ukraine has affected Russia’s involvement in other U.N. activities. In April 2022, the General Assembly voted to suspend it from the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. That same month, Russian candidates were rejected for seats on four organizations of the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council, and Russia was suspended from the United Nations’ World Tourism Organization.
In October, Russia failed to retain its seat on the governing council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, which oversees global air travel. A Ukrainian ambassador argued that Russia should be punished for bombing Ukraine’s civilian airports and using its airspace as a free-fire zone.
Russia still has its veto in the Security Council — and its nuclear arsenal. But much of its other power, hard and soft, is decaying.
Would the U.S. push Ukraine to negotiations with Russia?
Joe Biden asserted that nothing will be decided about Ukraine without Ukraine. Photo: Getty Images
A disagreement has emerged at the highest levels of the United States government over whether to press Ukraine to seek a diplomatic end to its war with Russia, The New York Times reports.
According to several American officials, General Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has made the case in internal meetings that the Ukrainians have achieved about as much as they could reasonably expect on the battlefield before winter sets in and so they should try to cement their gains at the bargaining table.
But other senior officials have resisted the idea, maintaining that neither side is ready to negotiate and that any pause in the fighting would only give Russian President Vladimir Putin a chance to regroup.
While advisers to the U.S. President Joe Biden believe the war will likely be settled through negotiations eventually, they have concluded that the moment is not ripe.
If the United States pushed for talks at this point, the officials said, reflecting the point of view of Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security adviser, that would send a message to Putin that all he had to do would be to drag out the war a little longer and eventually the Americans would do his work for him.
Despite General Milley’s public comments, the White House distanced itself from any perception that it is pushing President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to cede territory to Russian invaders.
"The United States is not pressuring Ukraine," Sullivan asserted. "What we are doing is consulting as partners and showing our support not just through public statements or moral support but through the tangible, physical support of the kind of military assistance."
President Joe Biden, for his part, said that It remained to be seen whether or not Ukraine was prepared to compromise with Russia. However, regarding Kyiv possibly giving up some territory, he stressed:
Hungary once again played into Putin's hands by blocking aid to Ukraine
Annalena Baerbock accused Hungary of playing poker with aid for Ukraine. Photo: Getty Images
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock slammed Hungary on Thursday for blocking the EU financial aid to Ukraine, Politico wrote.
The minister said that Budapest should not "play poker" in an attempt to put pressure on Brussels in a separate rule-of-law dispute. Earlier, several EU diplomats accused Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government of blackmail.
The European Commission on November 9 proposed an €18 billion support package to help Ukraine keep its economy and public services afloat throughout the year 2023 and to restore critical infrastructure destroyed by Russian missile and kamikaze drone strikes.
Hungary said it could not support the aid package, and hence the package was blocked.
Hungary's position has created frustration in Brussels, Berlin and other EU capitals.
Four EU officials and diplomats told POLITICO that they see Budapest's blockage of the Ukraine aid as a blackmail tactic to create pressure to release over €13 billion of EU funds for Hungary. This tranche can be suspended in December if the country does not implement anti-corruption and judicial reforms.
The U.S. warned Europe about the consequences of China’s attack on Taiwan
The U.S. has warned European countries that a conflict over Taiwan would trigger a huge global economic shock, Financial Times reports.
The state department has shared research with partners and allies that estimates that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan would spark $2.5 trillion in annual economic losses.
The stark warning has been shared with European Commission and European government officials, as the U.S. and partners begin to think about how they could use sanctions against China over any military action against Taiwan.
Washington is using the report to stress to European countries that a Taiwan conflict would have significant implications for them.
Two officials said the US and EU had begun talks about how to prepare for a possible conflict over Taiwan.
Earlier this year the US also held contingency planning talks with the UK for the first time.
Some officials believe that preparing contingency plans, and communicating them publicly, could become part of a strategy to deter China.
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