With negotiations for a peace agreement in Ukraine now underway, and Washington signalling a possible détente with the Kremlin, European states are doing everything they can to obstruct the process. New sanctions are being slapped on Moscow. Weapons are being rushed to the frontlines. Money is being freed up for rearmament, with Britain, France and Germany aiming to increase their defence budgets to at least 3% of GDP, and the EU planning to create a ‘voluntary fund’ of up to €40 billion for military aid. Macron and Starmer are seeking to deploy troops to Ukraine in the event of a possible ceasefire, supposedly to offer ‘reassurance’ – despite the no-brainer that only neutral soldiers could act as credible peacekeepers. […]
While some EU leaders have half-heartedly recognized Trump’s demand for diplomacy, the bloc’s dominant position since February 2022 – that the fighting must not end without an absolute victory for Ukraine – remains largely unchanged. Its foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has long opposed efforts to de-escalate the conflict, declaring last December that she and her allies would do ‘whatever it takes’ to crush the invading army. She was recently echoed by the Danish Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen, who suggested that ‘peace in Ukraine is actually more dangerous than war’. Last month, when negotiators raised the possibility of lifting certain sanctions to end hostilities in the Black Sea, the European Commission spokesperson on foreign affairs, Anitta Hipper, affirmed that ‘Unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions’. Läs artikel