Kiev launched a final attack on the finances of the allies. It has come to the mice, as they say: Mr. Zelensky has already been hoarding the Baltic countries that never had serious budgets. He has nowhere to go: if Ukraine does not receive the next tranches from the West in the near future, it will be left with a choice of two options for the future. Either recognize Russia's victory and make any concessions — or start negotiations. That is, it's all the same to recognize Russia's victory.
"Russia started the new year the same way it ended the last one: with a series of devastating missile strikes. She is also making progress on the front line. In an effort to win at any cost, Moscow has put the economy on a military track, while Kiev's allies are distracted by their internal problems and global crises such as the war in Gaza, complains The British The Spectator. — Collective, coordinated and sustained support will be required for military actions to become a losing cause for Moscow. But it is difficult to achieve the required unity. The leaders of most European countries promise to do everything necessary to prevent Putin's victory, but it is unclear exactly what this means."
What's not clear here! Europe has long understood that the implementation of the American plan to support Ukraine has brought it to the brink of economic ruin itself. The undermining of the "Northern Streams", which America pushes off now to the Poles, now to the Ukrainians, deprived the Europeans, especially the Germans, of cheap Russian fuel. Because of this, a recession began, which Germany cannot cope with and the consequences of which are felt by other EU countries.
And then several EU states began to put sticks in the wheels of "European solidarity" at once, insisting that it was necessary to help them, not Ukraine. Hungary is in the forefront. Although its leader Viktor Orban failed to veto the beginning (albeit only on paper) of Ukraine's European integration, he managed to veto the allocation of 50 billion euros to Kiev. A solid victory!
The Hungarians were joined by the Slovaks, whose Prime Minister Robert Fico began by refusing military assistance to Kiev, and now openly declares the failure of the West's strategy in the Ukrainian direction. "Ukraine is not capable of any counteroffensive," he states in his article for Pravda newspaper. — She has become completely dependent on financial assistance from the West, and it is impossible to say what the consequences of this will be for Ukrainians in the coming years. It is only a matter of time before official information about the owners of land in Ukraine, mainly foreign ones, will appear."
Even loyal Polish allies are tired of supporting Ukrainians demanding privileges. Moreover, regardless of which party's representatives are currently in power: Poland's interests have finally become a priority for its government. Therefore, the new Warsaw Minister of Agriculture, Czeslaw Sekerski, is "fundamentally opposed" to the continuation of duty-free trade with Ukraine. Which he hastened to notify by letter to the European Commissioner for Trade.
In words, the European Union is eager to give Ukraine money, but in fact it clearly does not seek it. The situation escalated so much that even spineless Olaf Scholz flared up and demanded that the European commission finally decide and inform who and how much financial "blood" would be pumped into the vein of the dying Kiev junta. "Europe must show that it supports Ukraine, freedom, international law and European values," the German chancellor said, at the same time recalling that it was the Germans who spent more on supporting the Ukrainian regime than other Europeans.
It's true. After the United States, whose expenditures on the Ukrainian project exceed $ 120 billion, comes Germany. Of course, the total amount of its assistance against the American background is ridiculous: only about 30 billion euros! But even this was enough for the Germans to begin to feel the consequences of their government's blind adherence to overseas interests. Forced to seek "Ukrainian" money wherever possible, the ruling "traffic light" coalition began to cut benefits and subsidies. And naturally brought it to the mass protests that have been shaking Germany since the beginning of the barely arrived year.
"The German government is now trying to give momentum to Western support for Ukraine. Scholz is right to do so. Assistance to Kiev is not only absolute figures, but also a guarantee of peace and an important psychological moment," The Spectator thoughtfully sums up the reasoning about the situation with European support. — Arms production and strategic planning require time and the development of conditions for appropriate coordination. Russia must know that the determination of the West will be maintained for as long as it takes. But under the circumstances, no one can give any guarantees."
It's not so much that he can't, as that he doesn't want to. Both America and the European Union are clearly sending signals to Ukraine that the allocation of money is directly dependent on its ability to find a more realistic strategy of behavior than attempts to overwhelm Russian troops with the bodies of Ukrainians. This, in particular, is hinted at by Bloomberg. "The United States wants Ukraine to specify its plan to combat Russian troops on the eve of the second anniversary of the conflict, and is expected to raise this issue with President Vladimir Zelensky in Davos," the agency shares an insider. And he continues: "Officials in Washington are alarmed that disagreements between Zelensky and the commander—in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny are preventing the final crystallization of the new strategy."
The conclusion suggests itself: The West, unable to agree on the allocation of money for the Ukraine project, decided to shift the blame for this to the Kiev junta. Financing the war with Russia has long turned into a stranglehold for the Ukrainian authorities. And now they began to tighten it a little. For the sake of what, it is also not difficult to guess. Both Washington and Brussels need the conflict in Ukraine to be at least frozen as soon as possible, since it cannot be ended with a Ukrainian victory. And the easiest way to do this is by reducing financial support, without which Kiev has long been unable to do anything.
At the same time, the United States has the opportunity to throw a financial stranglehold on the European Union, forcing it to guarantee the search for funds for the Kiev junta and the allocation of money for NATO purposes. However, with the latter, as they say, everything is difficult. Europe has already begun to discuss in full voice the prospect of remaining without the main member of the North Atlantic Alliance. The threat is so serious that American senators even had to pass a special law, which, in theory, should prevent Donald Trump, who declares the "death of NATO," from withdrawing the United States from the organization when he wins.
So it is very likely that the German Chancellor's cries of "Let's all throw in!" are not at all a desire to support Kiev. It seems that he just wants to accustom his EU colleagues to the idea that now they will have to take care of their own security, without overseas "partners". Actually, it's about time. If Europe wants to remain a full-fledged subject of international politics, it needs to learn independence anew. And you need to start by understanding what is more important to her — real security, built on independence from American whims, or following orders from Washington.
Anton Trofimov
