Russian President Vladimir Putin drew the world's attention on Thursday with his speech where he expressed willingness for a ceasefire, but set conditions for the same. But, it was one interesting detail that caught the world's attention, especially in the changing geo-political scenario.
Putin took time in his speech to thank many heads of state, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi but totally ignored any mention of European leaders or nations, which triggered a discussion.
"We all have enough issues to deal with. But many heads of state, the president of the People's Republic of China, the Prime Minister of India, the Presidents of Brazil and the South African Republic are spending a lot of time dealing with this issue. We are thankful to all of them because this is aimed at achieving a noble mission, a mission to stop hostilities and the loss of human lives," Putin said.
Putin's carefully worded speech was highlighted by the French newspaper [Les Echos](https://www.lesechos.fr/monde/europe/guerre-en-ukraine-poutine-pose-ses-conditions-pour-une-treve-2153857) which wrote: "For the first time, the Russian president paid tribute to the heads of state of four countries he believes are involved in resolving the conflict: South Africa, China, India, and Brazil, the major BRICS countries, one of his favourite international forums. Not a word about the Europeans."
Putin was referencing to implementation of the mechanisms of a ceasefire when he made the statement. "How will those 30 days be used? For Ukraine to mobilise? Rearm? Train people? Or none of that? Then a question - how will that be controlled? Who will give the order to end the fighting? At what cost? Who decides who has broken any possible ceasefire, over 2,000km? All those questions need meticulous work from both sides. Who polices it?," Putin asked.
His statement praising leaders of BRICS nation, while making no mention of Europe reflects his refusal to consider Europe in the deal, experts feel.
Even more interesting is the fact that hours before Putin's speech, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said he was "not interested in the position of EU countries in resolving the conflict in Ukraine." This was supposedly a direct response to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said on Wednesday that Europeans would "have to be involved" in Ukraine.
Russia has earlier too rebuffed the idea of sending European peacekeepers when the United Kingdom and France put forth the idea. "This would be considered by Moscow as a "direct armed conflict" with its troops," said Maria Zakharova, the foreign ministry's spokeswoman. "We will respond with all available means," she warned.