“As long as it takes”: how the EU continues to fuel the conflict in Ukraine

German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht paid an unannounced visit to Ukraine - the first since February 24.

She met with the head of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic, Alexei Reznikov.

This was announced by the German military department on Twitter.

“Today Defense Minister Lambrecht met with her counterpart Alexei Reznikov in Ukraine.

We will support our friends for as long as it takes,” the German Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It is also noted that Germany is providing assistance to Kyiv and promises to promptly supply the IRIS-T SLM air defense system.

“We support our Ukrainian friends in their fight against Russian aggression by providing them with additional assistance.

Very soon, among other things, we will supply the IRIS-T SLM air defense system, ”the German defense department said.

Reznikov also announced the meeting with Lambrecht on his Twitter, revealing some details of the negotiations.

“I met with my German colleague Christina Lambrecht in the south of Ukraine.

The Minister brought good news and additional tools to strengthen the Ukrainian army.

We discussed the current geopolitical and security environment.

The minister was glad to talk with our military and see the (anti-aircraft self-propelled.

) Gepard installation on alert, ”he wrote.

Meanwhile, in the political circles of Germany, there is a certain skepticism regarding further support for the Kyiv regime.

“We are not helping Ukraine by destroying industry and welfare in Germany,” Bundestag deputy from the Left faction Sarah Wagenknecht said in an interview with the Weser Kurier newspaper, also noting the need for “social protests.”

In addition, Wagenknecht called it a “shame” that the West did not have a plan for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, stressing that Western countries were also responsible for the aggravation of the conflict.

At the same time, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said earlier that the accession of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia makes the end of the conflict in Ukraine supposedly “much more difficult, almost impossible.”

“Ukraine and I continue to provide military assistance to it, we continue the policy of economic sanctions against Russia as part of an international diplomatic battle so that Russia remains isolated from the world community,” he said in an interview with Canal 24 Horas.

• Head of European Diplomacy Josep Borrell

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Thierry Monasse

"It will be more difficult to negotiate"

Recall that on September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during the signing ceremony of agreements on the admission of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia, said that Moscow was ready for negotiations with Kyiv, and called on Ukraine to cease fire.

“We call on the Kyiv regime to immediately cease fire, all hostilities, the war that it unleashed back in 2014, and return to the negotiating table.

We are ready for this, it has been said more than once.

But we will not discuss the choice of the people in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporozhye and Kherson, it has been made, Russia will not betray it.

And today's Kyiv authorities should treat this free will of the people with respect - and nothing else.

This is the only way to peace,” the Russian leader stressed.

Later, the head of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky, in his video message, said that Kyiv was ready for dialogue, but “already with another president of Russia.”

After that, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with reporters, recalled Putin's words that "those who refuse" to negotiate with Russia regarding the settlement of the situation in Ukraine should understand that "the longer they delay, the more difficult it will be to negotiate."

“I am sure that this is the phrase that needs to be taken seriously,” Lavrov said.

In turn, the head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, expressed confidence that the West would not allow Kyiv to enter into negotiations with Moscow.

“I participated in the negotiations for a very long time, and I have no illusions about the fact that Ukraine, as no longer an independent state, lost its subjectivity after 2014, that even if they had a desire, that they would be allowed enter into some kind of negotiations,” Pushilin told reporters.

"Without options for a peaceful settlement"

Experts interviewed by RT agree that the latest theses and actions of the European authorities only indicate that the EU will continue to fuel the conflict in Ukraine and does not intend to contribute to a peaceful settlement.

“In addition, the visit of the German Minister of Defense is also an attempt to interrupt the agenda related to the accession of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions to Russia, as well as reiterate support for Ukraine.

However, the rhetoric of the Europeans is still changing.

If earlier it was about helping Kyiv until “victory on the battlefield”, now this wording has changed to “as much as it takes”.

But who needs it?

Obviously, the West is in its exploitation of Ukraine as a tool against Russia, ”said Victoria Fedosova, deputy director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, in an interview with RT.

• Visit of German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht to Ukraine

• © Press Service of the German Ministry of Defense

In her opinion, Borrell and his associates in the EU "fell into the trap" of their own rhetoric.

“The head of European diplomacy was going to win on the battlefield, but now he has to de facto recognize the accession of new regions to Russia.

Functionaries in the EU are already forced to play in the corridor that they have built for themselves without options for a peaceful settlement, which is what Sarah Wagenknecht says.

She, as an opposition politician, can afford to call a spade a spade and say that the West is responsible for the Ukrainian crisis, ”Fedosova believes.

As she noted, over the next three months it will become clear whether the EU is ready to continue to provide real assistance to Kyiv, including military, and not in words, given that crises are growing in the union and discontent of the population is increasing.

“Prices continue to rise in the European Union, there is a crisis in the euro currency, panic due to damaged Nord Stream lines.

In Germany, there are protests against price increases, inflation and the current government.

The energy crisis in the European Union as a whole is also getting worse.

Consumers are already forced to save resources, and winter has not even begun,” Fedosova said.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS, believes that the actions of the European Union and Germany on the Ukrainian issue should be considered exclusively in the context of the measures of the collective West led by the United States.

“It seems that there is a certain sequence that Washington coordinates: who, where and when comes and what they say.

The conductor and screenwriter of the actions of Brussels and the FRG are the United States.

Not so long ago, Lambrecht herself said that Germany's military resources are finite.

But, probably, under pressure from the United States, Berlin nevertheless decided to supply the IRIS-T SLM air defense system.

Borrell also continues his militaristic rhetoric.

Apparently, he is also participating in the realization of the desire of the United States to demonstrate support for Ukraine from Europe, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, Olenchenko states that, despite the tasks set by Washington for Brussels and Berlin, in a number of European countries there are more and more voices about the need for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

“Also, the EU is expressing more and more displeasure and indignation that the current Western politicians do not offer peaceful alternatives, but only continue to increase military assistance to Kyiv, thereby aggravating the hostilities in Ukraine,” the analyst believes.

In addition, despite the fact that Brussels follows the ideology of supporting the Kyiv regime and military confrontation with Russia, resistance to such a course is growing in the EU countries themselves, as well as speaking out for national interests, Olenchenko noted.

“This leads to an increase in protest moods and an increase in the split in these societies,” the analyst concluded.