The Ukraine war poses a severe security danger to East European countries and the Baltic States, but for Western European countries such as France, Portugal, and Spain, it’s business as usual. There is little motivation to halt the blazing fight now that the US has rediscovered its mojo in Europe and Russia has a tiger by the tail.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar departs for Eastern and Central Europe on Wednesday night to assess the Ukraine war on the ground and its regional ramifications, as the European Union has partially blocked Russian oil imports after considerable wrangling. The EU plans to decrease Russian oil imports by 90% by the end of 2022.
EAM Jaishankar is expected to visit Bratislava, Slovakia, and Prague, Czech Republic, where he served as Indian ambassador two decades ago, among other countries in the region, to thank East and Central European countries for Operation Ganga and get a first-hand assessment of the fallout from the Ukraine war. The Modi government evacuated about 23,000 Indian people as part of Operation Ganga.
The European visit comes after Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto visited EAM Jaishankar in the capital on May 27 and had an open talk about the ongoing Ukraine conflict and its “knock on consequences” in several fields. The Hungarian Foreign Minister was the one who stressed the need of India maintaining ongoing contact with East and Central European nations, as well as the European Union. With Russian forces continuing to strengthen their military claims over Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donbas and Luhansk, the war poses a severe security danger to eastern, central, and Baltic European states, while business as usual for Western Europe. While many assume that Russia would negotiate for peace with Kyiv after conquering the eastern portion of the country and providing an ironclad assurance that Ukraine would not join NATO, East Europeans feel that neither side has a motive to stop the conflict.
Even though Russian forces appear to be in a better position militarily to unify the Donbas region by making deep forays into the Donbas city of Severodonetsk, the US and western powers all have plans to drag President Vladimir Putin into a political mess by supplying hardware and military grants to Kyiv. The Ukraine war is already in its third month, with Russian forces employing scorched earth tactics to create a buffer zone in Ukraine’s eastern area from Donbas to the Black Sea.
Even though Moscow has been heavily sanctioned by the US and the West for its Ukraine escapade, the consequences will take a long time to be felt in a country the size of Russia, with all its enormous natural resources and hardy people. According to data, the Russian Rouble has rebounded after sanctions, and the economy is expanding.
Source- Hindustan times
