LOS ANGELES (OC).–Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico opposes more EU sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Ukraine War. Fico wants the EU to stop imposing unrealistic climate targets with automakers and heavy industry, causing the price of electricity to go through the roof. EU officials like French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer all back current climate proposals that add to the cost of electricity, harming Eastern block countries like Hungary and Slovakia. Fico doesn’t see how hitting Putin with more sanction hastens the end to the Ukraine War and, in fact, might delay it indefinitely. EU officials wants Putin to go to the peace table with the intent or giving back all the sovereign territory seized over the last three-and-half-years of war. EU officials all oppose ceding Putin any Ukrainian land.
EU officials have changed the strategy for ending the Ukraine War, working recently on a post-war security framework but having no policy for ending the war. Fico can’t see how hitting Putin with more sanctions helps end the war. Zelensky convinced the EU that Putin has his sights on seizing more EU territory in the future. If the EU lets Putin win the war, Zelensky says it’s only a matter of time before Putin seize territory in Europe. Zelensky has no facts to base his warnings, always seeking the EU or NATO defend Ukraine in the current war. Zelensky hailed the decision of the EU to invoke Article 4 and shoot down Russian drones that strayed into Polish airspace. Putin has no intent to hitting any Polish target yet has been accused by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of predatory behavior. Von der Leyen is a Russian war hawk.
Fico runs against Brussels continuing to maintain close ties with the Russian Federation, including buying Russian oil and gas. Fico sees the EU taking a harsh stance on Russia when the cause of the Ukraine War involved U.S. meddling into Russian national security. Fico watched former President Joe Biden give unlimited cash-and arms to Ukraine, eventually resulting in the the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. Putin had asked Biden for months to discuss new security arrangements in Ukraine but Biden refused. When Putin moved some 200,000 troop into Ukraine it was a shock to the EU, when Putin said he was forced to implement a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine. Over three-an-a-half years Putin has lost thousands of troops, spent billions of rubles and seized some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign land, leaving the current stalemate.
Fico points out that the EU doesn’t seem much interested in a realistic peace plan, instead keeping the war going indefinitely. Fico said he would not support more sanctions against Russia unless the EU loosens standards for climate change and electricity production for heavy industry. “I will not support any further package unless the European Commission submits realistic proposals regarding electricity price in Europe,” Fico said at a meeting with European Council Presidnt Antonio Costa in Bratislava. “How many sanctions packages do we have to adopt to change Russia’s approach to the war?” Fico asked. When you listen to Merz and von der Leyen they sound like they’re declaring war on the Russian state not looking for a realistic peace plan to end the war. Sanctions have not worked over the last three-and-a-half years to end a bloody, destructive and costly war.
Brussels can’t decide what it wants to do in Ukraine, either end it or fund the proxy war just like Biden did for three years. EU officials face the undeniable reality that Ukraine continues to incur more loses the longer the war goes on. Prospects for vanquishing the Kremlin in the years to come are slim-and-none. So, what is the purspose for the U.S. to continue funding Ukraine to fight the Kremlin? Trump told Zelensky face-to-face Feb. 28 to cut his losses, end the war and starting rebuilding his country. Zelensky wasn’t happy when Trump told him he had no cards, meaning that Putn was calling the shots. No matter how distasteful the EU finds Putin, they must accept reality or prepare for more disaster. Ukraine cannot defeat the Russian Federation now or in future. If Zelensky wants to cut his losses, he needs to make a deal with Putin on Ukrainian land.
There’s much dissension in the EU over Ukraine, knowing the prospect of beating the Kremlin is unlikely at best. Trump gave Zelensky the best advice to cut his losses and live to see another day. Zelensky has the backing of the EU but he has no peace plan to end the war. Trump was within 90% of a peace plan that would work until the EU decided that the peace plan must protect EU security not just Ukraine’s. Poland and the Baltic States don’t trust that Putin will respect their territorial integrity in the future. They buy Zelensky’s narrative that when Putin defeats Ukraine, he’ll move on to seize more EU countries, especially the Baltic States. Poland expressed great concern over a few Russian drones straying into Poland’s territory. Putin didn’t target anyone in Poland, only miscalculated on some drone telemetry. EU officials must figure out what they want.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
