France and Germany sought to prevent a conflict in Ukraine, but this was not possible because Russian President Vladimir Putin did not believe in the possibility of a strong response from the West before the start of the military operation, according to former President Francois Hollande, who led France in 2012-2017.
In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Hollande noted that in order to prevent hostilities, “it is necessary to clearly understand that a very strong response will follow, and Putin did not believe in this.” In his opinion, the Western countries did not understand the intentions of Putin, who believed that disagreements within the European Union and the “political weakness” of the association would lead to a mild reaction to the military operation.
In addition, the German authorities believed they would “keep Putin out of military action” because “usually the supplier behaves correctly, otherwise he loses the client,” Hollande said, referring to energy supplies. However, in his opinion, “Putin is more likely to lose the sales market than part of the territory.”
Hollande also said that Western countries should have stopped the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in advance, and companies should have left the Russian market. At the same time, he recalled that after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, he canceled the deal for the sale of Mistral helicopter carriers to the Russian army, but other countries left Paris “alone” in this matter and “continued their usual relations” with Moscow.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
