Putin backs Europe blinks, warns top EU diplomat

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is betting the EU’s united response to his invasion of Ukraine will shatter as soaring prices hit European voters’ wallets, the Brussels foreign policy chief warned on Tuesday.

In an interview with AFP, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said Putin sees “the fatigue of Europeans and the reluctance of their citizens to face the consequences of supporting Ukraine”.

“We have to persevere and spread the costs within the EU,” Borrell told AFP, warning that keeping the 27 member states together “day by day” is a task.

Next week, Borrell will host meetings of EU foreign and defense ministers in Prague, hoping to bolster what has so far been a remarkably united diplomatic front against Russia’s aggression.

EU member states, most of which are also NATO allies, have agreed on a series of sanctions packages targeting Putin’s inner circle and economic sectors, including key oil exports.

But now energy prices and inflation are skyrocketing, and several members, including economic powerhouse Germany, are threatened with a deep recession.

Eastern EU states, which border Russia and have bad memories of Soviet rule, want even tougher measures and are pushing for a visa ban for Russian tourists.

Other capitals are reluctant to take further measures that would also hurt their own economies, fearing voter support for Ukraine might not survive winter power outages and high gas bills.

It’s Borrell’s job to maintain the united front that Brussels sees as its trump card after Moscow sought to assuage EU concerns and divide allies.

“We must not forget that the European Union is a union of states that have different approaches to Russia,” he said.

The 75-year-old former Spanish foreign minister will propose an EU military training mission for Ukrainian forces, backed by Britain and Canada.

“We must provide support to Ukraine that goes beyond supplying arms. In the face of someone refusing to end the war, we must be able to resist,” he said.

However, finding a compromise between the competing priorities of EU countries will not be easy.

“The member states are the masters of their foreign policy. We must ensure that their interests reach a common point. We’re always in compromise mode,” Borrell said.

Europe is a huge market and trading bloc, and EU economic sanctions can hit opponents hard.

However, decisions on sanctions must be taken unanimously, meaning a single member like Russia’s ally Hungary can delay or derail collective action.

And if a pro-Ukrainian coalition like Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland and Poland is to go ahead and ban Russian visitors, it would need the support of more cautious members.

“We are primarily striving for a European solution because it is the most sustainable and legally correct one,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Tuesday.

But he added: “If we don’t get any, we don’t rule out looking for a regional solution.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has expressed reservations about a visa ban and Borrell has been cautious, proposing targeted bans against the pro-Putin elite.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to ban all Russians from entering Europe, for whatever reason. We need to be more selective, but nothing to the oligarchs, of course,” he said.

Western weapons – including those bought with €2.5 billion provided by the EU – have enabled Ukraine to outperform Russia’s outdated military equipment, Borrell said.

But the Russian leader remains defiant, and Europe is concerned Moscow’s forces could damage a Ukrainian nuclear power plant and trigger a continent-wide disaster.

“Vladimir Putin remains inflexible. We must continue the sanctions pressure and rebuild the Ukrainian armed forces,” Borrell said

“The war is taking a new turn. The Ukrainians have gone on the offensive.”