Friday 10th December 2021
Ukraine attack warning
EU wants to scare off Russia with a “price tag”
Not only Chancellor Scholz is following the Ukraine conflict with concern. The EU wants to prevent an attack by Russia and show Moscow possible consequences in advance. In the meantime, the Kremlin is making clear what demands it has on NATO.
The EU wants to prevent Russia from a feared attack on Ukraine with a specific package of sanctions. “Aggression must have a price tag,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of a meeting with the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Brussels. “That is why we will communicate these points in an appropriate form (…) to Russia in advance.” However, one will not speak about it in public, she added.
Von der Leyen left it open whether an operating ban on the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany, could also be part of the sanctions package. “In general, it is important that energy should never be used as leverage and that the energy security of Europe and its neighbors must be guaranteed,” she said.
Scholz said: “It is very clear that Germany, the European Union and many other countries would react if there were border violations.” But just as clear in this situation is that the task must be aimed at preventing precisely that. “We want security and cooperation in Europe. We want the borders to remain inviolable and unharmed. And that is what is currently at stake,” said the SPD politician.
Washington supports the Ukrainian army with 2.5 billion
The background to the statements are the findings of NATO, according to which Russia has currently drawn between 75,000 and 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine. The developments bring back memories of 2014. At that time, Russia had annexed the Crimean peninsula after the coup in Ukraine and began supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine, which is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, Russia is making its demands on NATO clear. The Western military alliance is supposed to formally put the accession prospects of Ukraine and Georgia aside. The official withdrawal of a corresponding decision at a NATO summit in 2008 was “in the fundamental interest of European security,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moscow also called for an end to NATO military exercises near the Russian border.
In the declaration of the NATO states at the Bucharest summit in April 2008, the alliance welcomed “the efforts of Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO”. And: “We agreed today that these countries will join NATO.” Accession to NATO by both countries is not currently an option in the short or medium term. Ukraine in particular cooperates closely with the West, especially with the USA.
Washington has pledged to support the Ukrainian military, emaciated by the war against pro-Russian militias in the east of the country, with more than 2.5 billion US dollars. Tensions between Russia and the West in the Ukraine conflict had recently intensified. Given a massive Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine, there are fears that Moscow could attack the neighboring country. The Kremlin rejects this and accuses Ukraine of provocations.
Meanwhile, Russia is said to have closed almost 70 percent of the Sea of Azov around the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for military exercises. The Russian fleet is apparently planning target practice in front of the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol, Berdjansk and Henichesk, said Kiev naval forces. A confirmation from the Russian side was initially not available. The day before, the Russian border guards accused a ship of the Ukrainian Navy of approaching the Kerch Strait without permission. The leadership in Moscow spoke of a dangerous provocation. Kiev rejected the charge. The ship “Donbass” did not leave its own territorial waters.