Ukraine- The View from Brazil, England, and France

The crisis in Ukraine is becoming more and more of a global concern as time progresses. Because the world is so "united" in times of crisis, every country has something to say in a different perspective. Because almost every country is connected in some sort of relations, be it trade or diplomacy, when one is in trouble and in need of aid, or when it is compromising trade, prices, and the economy for other countries, suddenly everyone becomes concerned. Other countries sometimes stay on the sideline, watching as the big guns- the US, Germany, the UK, China, Japan, etc. mediate or reprehend the crisis between countries- and commenting on their choices of decisions on mediation or reprehension.

Although France has been more on the sidelines than the frontlines during this crisis between the Ukraine and Russia, they have some pretty strong opinions on how other countries are getting involved. On the news source “Les Echos, France,” and article was posted titled: “Ukraine: Obama does not want to yield to Russia.” This title does not say much about France’s opinion, but wait until you begin reading the article! France’s news source’s opening line claims that president Obama and the EU are posing political and economic threats to force Russia to negotiate and find a solution for the crisis. France is sitting on the side mostly, just analyzing and observing other countries’ decisions, comments, and their every move.  

France also seems to be focusing on the main “mediators” in this crisis: the Europe/ EU and US. Although in French, the news source stated that, “Barack Obama, the U.S. president, announced that a referendum in the Crimea would violate international law (translated).”  Barack Obama also announced that if the violation of international law by Russia continues, the position of the United States and its allies stand firm. Now, the question posed is, what is the position of the allies on this issue? What does Obama mean when he says their position is firm? Is this indicating military intervention in Russia, Ukraine, or both by the allied powers?  In this article, France seems more concentrated and concerned on the decisions of the US and the EU and how they will impact Russia and the Ukraine. France’s opinions seem a little strong because of the fact that they said Obama and the EU was threatening Russia. Now, we cant tell if France thinks that’s a good thing or a bad thing, because they seem neutral, but it is interesting that it was called “threatening” in the first place.

Brazil seems to approach the crisis in a different way than France. The perspective of Brazil in BBC news Brazil was on a more economic level. Of course, the US is always a point of interest of other countries’ news, and Brazil is focused on how the crisis in the Ukraine might affect the US and the EU, and other smaller countries of less importance in their article. Brazil mentions repeatedly that the fear of war between Russia and Ukraine is already affecting international prices, and that “ this week, the wheat reached its maximum value in 17 months…Corn reached the highest price since September…on Monday gas came to rise 10%.)  Brazil’s stance on the issue is taking on a more economic aspect; Brazil is worried about how potential war between the Ukraine and Russia might affect the economy of the world.

BBC news Europe has a more neutral, unspecific perspective on the crisis in the Ukraine.  They are focusing mainly on breaking news, and important updates. BBC News Europe states, “EU leaders are to begin an Emergency summit to decide how they should respond to Russia’s troop deployment in Ukraine’s Crimea region.” Their focus is more on keeping the people informed, and not taking any biased stances, or focusing on one aspect such as Brazil focuses on the affects the crisis might have on the economy or France focuses on the US and EU’s decisions on the crisis. From this news source, you can infer that BBC is more concerned “with what happens next,” and the decisions that will make or break that- if war is evident- or if there will be peaceful mediation.