Enthusiasm for the European response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has waned over the days. The collateral effects in the form of rising energy prices have disrupted the economies of the 27 and have reached every corner of the continent. The dilemma between principles and interests does not always fall on the right side of history. Democratic governments, sensitive to states of opinion long before the emergence of social networks, have reacted compulsively with a battery of aid to consumers, limits on prices and profits for companies in the sector and with the announcement of restrictions on the use of energy. all very demoralizing. And the coming winter is even darker. As Olga Merino wrote a few days ago, all the great European projects, from Napoleon to Hitler, succumbed in the Russian winter. The EU could be next.
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While, wars are always more bearable for dictatorships like Putin’s. He has just won the regional elections by a margin. The one in Ukraine is a war without deaths in Moscow. The Russian first line of fire is in charge of mercenaries from Syria and other conflict zones in the Russian orbit. The sanctions, for the moment, only affect the oligarchs who cannot protest. But, you have to remember that Russia does not export anything other than oil and energy. Prices have risen but your customer base has shrunk. Putin appears to emerge unscathed from the adventure in Ukraine designed to humiliate the West rather than save the Russians in that country. The Russian winter is also harsh for Russians, even though they are more resistant to cold.
In this context, the first positive news arrives about the military campaign of Zelenski’s troops. It would seem that Western aid has borne some fruit. You have to be cautious. Ukraine is also not a democratic paradise. And the first casualty of war is the truth. But in any case, when we pay at the supermarket and at the gas station or when we look, warm inside the house, at the dark streets of our cities, we can think that it has served something. And not only to consolidate the hegemony of the United States as the pro-Russian propaganda says.