That’s a very difficult question my friend

I know, right?

Yes, indeed. I know France President Emmanuel Macron, was in Berlin on Tuesday for a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the matter of Russia-induced tension around Ukraine. He said, “if there is an attack, there will be retaliation and the price will be very high.”

For a moment, I thought I heard something like, ‘Bring it on, Vladimir Putin.’

You can’t be serious!

I said it was something that happened in a moment. I don’t know why but somehow it felt good

There you go. Proving my suspicion that there is a Putin in everyone of us. Given the circumstance, it looks like you will do the same thing

Let’s not make this about me, please.

Ok. I asked the question before, please tell me, what else can France, German and the rest of the world do apart from threatening Russia with high level retaliation or engaging its authorities in robust dialogue?

I cannot think of anything else, especially with regards to Macron’s take on dialogue. He said “We should have a dialogue of clarification with Russia because I think that this dialogue is necessary to try to remove the ambiguities.”

What are those ambiguities?

He didn’t indicate in the speech but one anyone who has carefully mapped the DNA of a man’s ego will have some clues.

I don’t understand you. Who has ever mapped the DNA of a man’s ego? And what has ego got to do with ambiguities?

A lot. First of all, what do you understand as ambiguity?

Something that is vague

Good. Can you really tell when someone is driven by ego or something else?

I don’t know. Maybe. And you don’t think Macron, Scholz and others might have been on their own ego trips too?

Every one of us goes on ego trips from time to time. We all do, without exemption.

So, what are you saying?

That apart from the threat of retaliation and use of dialogue, there is need to consider another instrument in the attempt to de-escalate Russia-induced tension around Ukraine.

And what is that? Go figure.