Europe To Be The Heaviest Loser In Russia – Ukraine Crisis
This file picture posted on the website of Russian energy giant Gazprom shows Nord Stream 2 pipe-laying operations in German territorial waters.
The intensive containment of Russia through expansion of NATO to the doorstep of Russia was a plan hatched by USA. However they themselves had forgotten as to how Kennedy had reacted to missiles in Cuba. Russia was determined to assure its own security at all costs. No wonder it led to the current military conflict. To avoid a further deterioration of the tensions In Ukraine, it’s time for the European countries to think independently of USA interests and take into account the Security interests of Russia.
The situation in Ukraine is changing faster than expected. Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted decisively. No wonder sometime back he had even visited India and had talks with Modi. He must have apprised India about Russia’s security concerns. After all no one can afford to ignore India in matters international and get away with it in the long run.
On Thursday President authorized “a special military operation” in the Donbass region. The development on the ground in Donbass will have far-reaching political and economic consequences in Europe.
It’s time that European countries like France and Germany must start pursuing political independence from the USA, and not just blindly follow the US-led NATO to create conflicts like the present the Russia-Ukraine problem which has evolved to a military conflict.
Any, conflict on the European continent will undoubtedly deal a blow to European economy, which has displayed signs of recovery from the pandemic since the beginning of the year. The escalation of the conflict in Ukraine is likely to derail the recovery.
Many EU countries have long maintained close economic and trade ties with Russia, it is conceivable that the US, lackey UK and other allies’ have imposed sanctions on Russia will disrupt the regional supply chains, including energy supplies. Russia has been an important supplier of oil and natural gas to most of the European countries.
The present military conflict in Europe will lead to capital outflow from the European markets to the US, which is expected to partially alleviate the pressure facing the Federal Reserve, which is mulling raising interest rates to curb surging inflation in the US. Probably this is the main reason for the USA to stoke the conflict.
Also the US-led sanctions on Russia mean that many European countries will have to rely on the expensive LNG to be provided by the US. Of course, as oil and gas prices keep rising, inflation in European countries will be exacerbated.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, which was designed to double the gas flow from Russia to Germany, has come to a stop. Now it will be basically impossible to push forward with the gas pipeline project, as Germany said it will put on hold certification of the pipeline.
Without the Nord Stream 2, energy needs of Germany and other EU countries will get affected badly. Thus USA will also be able to gain an even bigger market share for its LNG that is priced at 20 to 30 percent higher compared with Russia’s natural gas.
There is no denying that Germany and France have tried to ease the tensions between Russia and Ukraine through diplomatic talks, because the two countries know very well that such a conflict is never in the EU’s interest. Similarly India has refused to side with the West. After all Ukraine has always acted against Indian interests at UN and elsewhere.
