Team Putin has this week gained a new and vaguely prominent supporter: Nicolas Sarkozy, the disgraced former President of France.
French politicians do not have a reputation for ethical probity but Sarkozy takes the gateau
Most sensible people here are on vacation and political news is thin so a pro-Moscow declaration of Sarko, in an interview with Le Figaro, has attracted more attention than it might otherwise have commanded.
In an interview published on Wednesday, Sarkozy argued that Europe needs to ‘clarify its strategy’ and seek a compromise with Russia rather than pursue its ‘strange idea’ of funding a war without waging it. He said there was no question of admitting Ukraine either to Nato or the EU and that it must cede territory to Russia for peace.
‘Without compromise, nothing will be possible and we run the risk that the situation will degenerate at any moment. This powder keg could have frightful consequences,’ he said.
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