L’European Union is preparing to close 2024 with sanctions against the Russia and promises, yet to be fully respected, of financial and military support toUkraine. It is clear from the words of the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyenwhich after the Foreign Affairs Council gave the green light to the 15th package of sanctions on Moscow, states that Palazzo Berlaymont is already working on the 16th. Russia, however, is not on board, and with the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharovaspeaks of “illegitimate” measures and promises retaliation: “Brussels continues to damage our country with decisions that, in truth, also threaten global energy security and the stability of global economic ties. Retaliatory measures the illegal anti-Russian actions of the European Union will not be long in coming,” he promised.
The characteristics of the Russian economy, now in all respects a war economypush Brussels to try to target certain sectors so as to weaken the Federation’s coffers more evidently, explained von der Leyen. “Today a third of Russia’s budget is dedicated to military spending – he declared – It is a war economy, so it is essential to undermine the potential revenues of Vladimir Putin. Last week we adopted the fifteenth package of sanctions which targets the shadow fleet and the channels for circumventing “restrictive measures” and the sixteenth package is already in preparation. The sanctions are weighing on the Russian economy, the ruble is at its lowest level since the beginning of the war, despite the massive countermeasures adopted by the central bank, inflation has reached 70% in some sectors of the economy. We send a clear message to Kremlinthat is, the longer the war lasts, the greater the price the Russian economy will have to pay”.
Also because, he says, European support for Kiev will not stop until that happens Volodymyr Zelensky to believe that the time has come to sit at a table with Moscow. Promises which, however, do not take into account the will of some of the governments of the 27 member states, theHungary above all, which have been blocking the allocation of further funds for months now 6.6 billion of euros destined for Ukraine. “The EU will pay Kiev 13 billion euros next year – said von der Leyen – And starting from January we will start transferring our part of the G7 loan, financed with the proceeds of the immobilized Russian assets. This is more than 18 billion euros for 2025. This will give Ukraine economic and financial stability until the end of 2025 and free up fiscal space for the purchase of military equipment. In other words, Putin’s strategy to push Kiev into financial disaster has completely failed.”
Winter, however, is now starting and in recent months Russia has adopted a strategy as criminal as it is effective to try to ensure an easier advance in the Donbass: bomb the energy infrastructure thus compromising the supply of large areas of the country which risks remaining in the cold and dark with temperatures that have already fallen. For this reason, von der Leyen also admits, “the most immediate challenge is Ukraine’s energy system. We have already done a lot on this front. We have supplied Ukraine with thousands of power generators, transformers, electrical components, and millions of LED bulbs. But we must do more. There is still a significant capability gap. Tomorrow (Thursday, ndr) at the European Council I will ask leaders to do more on repairs, to further strengthen the connection network and to do more for decentralized electricity generation. In these darkest days of the year we must keep the lights on and keep hope alive. And beyond the winter, we must maintain Ukraine’s basic economic and financial stability. The International Monetary Fund estimated Ukraine’s financing gap at more than $42 billion by 2025. But we are closing this gap, together with our G7 partners and international financial institutions.”
It all also comes from the process of accession to the EU which could experience a further acceleration in 2025, at least according to the words of the President of the Commission: “We must continue to support the Ukrainians politically – she concluded – They have made enormous progress towards joining our Union. And if they continue their efforts we should be ready to open negotiations on the fundamentals cluster in early 2025 and on other clusters throughout the year. Ukrainians are fighting for their future in our Union and they must know that their efforts are bearing fruit. The flag of Ukraine will fly in the heart of our Union.”
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