The fear that the scorching summer will be followed, courtesy of Vladimir Putin, by the coldest winter, did not shake the hand of the European Union yesterday when it came to reaffirming its strategy against the war in Ukraine: total closing of ranks with Kyiv , tightening of sanctions against Moscow and calls for resistance from Europeans in the face of the obvious global economic cost of the conflict.
“European society must be aware that this war is an endurance test for European society. We must resist and continue to support Ukraine. We have no other option and neither do they," said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell. “I am sure that Putin is counting on democratic fatigue because he believes that democracies are weak (...) but European societies cannot afford to get tired. They decided to apply sanctions to Russia and they must maintain them”, concluded the high representative of Foreign Policy of the EU at the end of the Council of European Foreign Ministers held yesterday in Brussels.
Russia's "true goal" is to "impoverish" European countries, his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitro Kouleba, told them. “Putin wants to turn public opinion against his governments in the hope of replacing them with more radical and more pro-Russian forces,” Kouleba assured them by videoconference. “Backing down and bowing to Putin's demands will not work, it never works. It's a trap,” he warned them.
Despite the pulse over gas supply, the European foreign ministers unanimously decided yesterday to extend the sanctions against Moscow for another six months, add a veto to imports of Russian gold and dedicate 500 million euros more from the European Facility for peace to make a joint purchase of weapons to be sent to Ukraine. This new section brings to a total of 2,500 million European funds dedicated to arming Kyiv.
With inflation at record highs in the euro zone, food prices on the rise and the first interest rate hike in eleven years just around the corner, European governments are indeed under increasing political pressure. stronger internally. “Wars have these consequences. Fortunately, we do not suffer bombing like the Ukrainians nor do we have to go into exile like them, but the whole world suffers the consequences of the war”, said Borrell, who demonstrated with data in hand that the rise in oil prices is not due to European sanctions. but to war and accused Russia of world famine for blocking the release of 20 million tons of wheat to the markets.
Tension is rising by the minute in Europe as new indications spread that Russia intends to leave part of Europe without gas this winter. Yesterday it emerged that Gazprom has invoked “major cause” reasons to justify past and future breaches of its obligations to several European gas suppliers, suggesting that the Nord Stream 1 may not be operational again when it completes its maintenance on Thursday.
However, the EU does not consider softening the sanctions to apply to Moscow. Now, says Borrell, is the time to have "strategic patience" and give time for the sanctions, which "are working", to really hurt Russia. In a rare acknowledgment of the difficulties caused by Western restrictions, Putin admitted yesterday that Russia's high-tech sector faces "colossal challenges".
