GENEVA, May 22. /TASS/. Discussion on creating the "coalition of the willing," which provides for deploying European combat formations in Ukraine, is symptomatic of European suicidal aspirations, French historian and sociologist Emmanuel Todd said in an interview with Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche.
"I see this as an aspiration for suicide," the historian said, replying to a question as to how he interprets the European initiative on forming the "coalition of the willing." According to his assessments, similar suicidal trends are seen in anti-Russian measures "which harm Europe the most." The expert said that European countries’ aspiration to do without Russian gas is equally suicidal. "We are dealing here with the ailment of society’s upper tiers," he noted.
On March 27, a summit of the so-called "coalition of the willing" took place in Paris, where representatives from approximately 30 countries discussed potential security guarantees for Kiev following the end of the Ukrainian conflict. One of the primary topics was the possible deployment of a military contingent on Ukrainian territory. Notably, the United States did not participate in this summit. However, reports suggest that several countries are willing to engage in a so-called peacekeeping mission in Ukraine, provided they have support from Washington.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on March 12 that the presence of NATO troops on Ukrainian soil, regardless of their flag or mandate, poses a threat to Russia. He emphasized that Moscow would not tolerate this under any circumstances.
Todd graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies and received a Ph.D. in history from Trinity College of the University of Cambridge. He is known for predicting the demise of the Soviet Union in his 1976 book The Final Fall. Since 1984, he was the head of the library at the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) in Paris and in 2017 concluded his research career there.