Politico: Russia put Europe in the face of the “bitter truth”

MOSCOW, 8 Sep — PRIME. The successful policy of Vladimir Putin made the European Union understand that the West will sooner or later be forced to ease anti-Russian sanctions, columnist Matthew Karnichnig wrote in an article for Politico.

The article notes that “the looming storm confronts European leaders with the ‘bitter truth’: ‘The Kremlin is holding its own in the fight against Europe.’

The journalist also recalled how one of the high-ranking officials of the European Commission said that he “has no doubt that Putin is winning in this regard.”
According to Karnichnig, the increased protest activity in the European Union clearly proved the inevitability that European leaders will face loud calls to ease anti-Russian sanctions.

“Time – not to mention the weather – is on Moscow’s side. As temperatures drop in the coming weeks and months as winter approaches, Europeans will begin to feel the brunt of rising natural gas prices,” the journalist is sure.

Karnichnig noted that, according to a YouGov survey, residents of the largest countries in the region (Germany, France, the UK and Poland) are now more worried about the cost of living than about the conflict in Ukraine.

In France, 40 percent of the population would support the return of the Yellow Vest movement, the violent weekly protests that erupted in 2018 to achieve what the organizers called “economic justice,” the Politico columnist concluded.

After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Western countries began to impose sanctions against Russia, in particular, on the purchase of energy resources. President Vladimir Putin has said that the policy of containment and easing is a long-term strategy for the West, and restrictive measures have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy.