“I call on all European countries that have modern and efficient tanks that gather dust in the barracks give them to Ukraine“, has indicated the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, in a speech before the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Josep Borrell has insisted that the conflict is at a turning point, so it is important to give all the help you can to Ukraine.
“The war is going to be decided this spring and summer”has warned, to ask for speed in the supply of weapons after regretting that kyiv’s military allies have spent “a long time” discussing the issue of the Leopards while the Russian Army prepared an offensive in the Donbas region.
In this sense, the High Representative has distanced the scene of an escalation of the conflict for sending Western tanks and has asked to reinforce these supplies. “We have been announcing that we will give battle tanks and there has not been any Third World War,” he stated.
For Borrell, the military situation on the ground is “worrying” for Ukraine, since Russia now has 360,000 soldiers on Ukrainian territory, more than in previous phases of the war. The Ukrainian Army is now at a disadvantage in terms of troop numbers, it has warned, to underline that the shipment of arms and ammunition by Europe is even more important.
According to the head of European diplomacy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “He has plenty of applause and he lacks ammunition. He is going through applause and ‘Slava Ukraine’ (‘Glory to Ukraine’), but his soldiers have no ammunition to continue fighting. Because the applause is free and a Leopard costs 10 million euros”
“To win peace, you must first win the war and you can help Ukraine militarily and at the same time make all the necessary political efforts so that peace comes as soon as possible. They are not two alternative or contradictory things,” he said.
has also asked combat the russian war narrative since “there is still an anti-colonial feeling in Africa and in Latin America an anti-imperialist feeling that makes many of its leaders and its inhabitants look at this war with different eyes from ours.”
Borrell stresses that sanctions against Russia “are a slow-acting poison”
On the other hand, Josep Borrell has indicated that sanctions against Russia are “a slow-acting poison” made “arsenic-based” with “irreversible” effects for Moscow.
“Sanctions are a slow-acting poison like the one made from arsenic. They take time to produce their effects, but they do it and they do it irreversibly,” Borrell said in his speech at the European Parliament on the first anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, which will take place on February 24.
The head of European diplomacy has recognized that “the Russian economy has not collapsed and that its GDP growth rate is not what had been expected” by approving the nine sanctions packages that the EU has applied so far.
He has also admitted that the Kremlin had last year “exceptionally high income” derived from the sale of gas and oil, but he explained that “things are changing, thanks to our sanctions and in particular” the cap on the price of Russian oil that the EU has agreed with the G7.
In this sense, Borrell has said that the Russian Finance Minister has recognized that income from hydrocarbons in January of this year has been 46% lower than in the same month of the previous year, in part, it has reduced its dependence on Russian fossil fuels.
The former Spanish minister has assured that the Russian public deficit “is exploding” because “it is fourteen times higher in January 2023 than in January 2022” and has also pointed out that Russia’s trade balance “It is at its historical minimum of the average since the year 2007”.
“Yes, the ruble is artificially strong, but the Russian economy will pay a high price for this war“, since Moscow has lost the EU as its main energy partner “and will not have it again”, nor “it will be easy, almost impossible” to find an alternative customer for its gas “because China is too far” and Beijing The US and India buy Russian oil at a discount, due to the cap that the West has placed on its price.
Source: Lasexta
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
