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Going public - the West's risky strategy to stop a war in Ukraine
White House, Nato and EU’s public diplomacy may have negated Moscow’s ability to surprise but it has also disclosed divisions in their ranks.
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A member of the Ukrainian military in the Luhansk Oblast province of eastern Ukraine.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
Henry Foy
(THE FINANCIAL TIMES) - From the first declassified, grainy spy photos of Russian tanks assembled on the Ukrainian border in November to President Joe Biden's airing last week of his personal guess that Russia will "move in" and invade, the US and its Western partners have for months fought a remarkably public war of words against the Kremlin's perceived menace.
A daily bombardment of briefings, intelligence, threats and allegations from the White House, Nato, the EU and European capitals has marked a novel approach to avoiding war. The disclosure of information normally reserved for hidden negotiations is highly unusual in modern-day diplomacy.
