NATO often points out that if Russia's goal in invading Ukraine was to have less NATO on its border, it has achieved the exact opposite: more NATO. Fourteen months after the start of the war, the Atlantic Alliance has one more partner, Finland, and 1,700 more kilometers of common borders, figures that will increase as soon as Istanbul gives the green light to Sweden's entry. Something similar, although less quantifiable, is happening with the integration of Ukraine into the great European family.
In a crucial week for diplomacy and military action on the battlefield, the European Union is preparing to multiply its activity to reinforce Russia's isolation, extend its vision of war ("there is an aggressor, Russia, and a victim , Ukraine", "what is at stake are European principles and values"...) and attract allies to the cause of Kyiv, personified in the tenacity of Volodimir Zelenski, who continues to tour Europe after being awarded last Sunday with the Charlemagne prize for his defense of European values.
The EU attends the international summits that this week will take place in Reykjavik, where the Council of Europe meets tomorrow, and in Hiroshima, where the leaders of the G-7 have met, with the aim of promoting "two clear principles", said the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Monday. On the one hand, the need to “continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes” and, on the other, to agree that “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine will be decided”.
In this sense, Von der Leyen hopes that there will be "strong support" for Zelensky's peace plan "for a just and lasting peace." Created in 1949 to ensure democracy and the rule of law on the continent, the Council of Europe expelled Russia last year in response to the invasion of Ukraine, but its partners include countries that have shown sensitivity to the arguments. from Moscow, such as Serbia and Hungary, as well as several from the former Soviet orbit. With its sights set on the objective of broadening the Western alliance and isolating Moscow, the initiative of the G-7 to invite the president of the African Union to its summit (and not as was done on other occasions individually to South Africa, whose government declares itself "non-aligned" but is suspected of having sent arms to Russia) is seen as an opportunity to advance the Western vision of the war. The same diplomatic offensive was carried out last weekend by the European foreign ministers during the meeting in Sweden with their counterparts from the Indo-Pacific region.
The demand for a strong voice for Kyiv at a hypothetical negotiating table with Moscow comes at the beginning of a visit to Europe by a representative of China, who this week is scheduled to meet with the governments of Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Poland and France to promote "a political arrangement". “We hope that China will play a positive role in convincing Russia to end this aggression and respect the Charter of the United Nations,” European Council President Charles Michel said at a joint press conference with von der Leyen.
Meanwhile, Brussels continues with its strategy to bring Russia to justice and compensate Ukraine financially as well. Thus, Von der Leyen will defend in Reykjavik the creation of "a specific court" to judge Russia for the crime of similar aggression, an initiative in line with Zelenski's repeated demand to launch something similar to the Nuremberg process created to prosecute to the leaders of Nazism. The EU will also advocate the creation of a damage registry in The Hague to collect information on the destruction caused by Russian troops. "It will be a good first step" to get Russia to pay "compensation" to the Ukrainians, said the president of the community executive.
The G-7, for its part, will coordinate to plug the legal holes that allow Moscow to evade part of the economic sanctions to which it has been subjected since the start of the invasion, while the EU considers going a step further, vetoing the exports of goods to third countries if there is evidence that their final destination is the Russian market. At the internal European level, Von der Leyen and Michel insisted that this promise to support Ukraine "as long as it takes" must be transformed into a guarantee of financial support beyond 2023 and the acceleration of the shipment of military material. .
In December, European leaders will rule on Kyiv's request to open membership negotiations and the feeling in Brussels is that the answer can only be positive. To demonstrate its commitment to enlargement, the European Commission included Ukraine, Moldova and other candidate countries in its spring economic forecast report on Monday.
