If the West does not want to intervene militarily in Ukraine immediately, it has a duty to hit the Russian regime as hard as possible with economic means.
The longer the Ukrainian military holds out against the Russian fury, the more likely the free democratic world will ultimately triumph over the kleptocrat regime in Moscow. Vladimir Putin seems to have hoped to conquer Kiev with a Blitzkrieg to oust President Volodymyr Zelensky and replace him with an autocrat friend, but so far appears to have misjudged the strength and motivation of the Ukrainian army.
Every day that Zelensky holds up, new support for Ukraine is added and Putin is left more alone. Ukraine receives money, weapons, help with digital warfare and above all a lot of moral support from all over the world. Russian bank balances are frozen, airlines no longer fly to Russia, the country is banned from events and sports tournaments and almost every wealthy Russian has become a pariah.
Countries most dependent on Russian gas, such as Germany and Italy, initially showed the most hesitation. The German Social Democrats in particular were so used to accommodating Putin that it took them some time to choose the hard line. But now the government has also crossed the Rubicon there, clearing the way for arms supplies to the Ukrainian army. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Sunday that he wants to invest 100 billion euros in the Bundeswehr. An unprecedented and historic step for Germany.
Russia now seems to stop at nothing and – through a spokeswoman from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – even used threatening language towards Sweden and Finland this weekend. If either country were to join NATO, there was a threat of ‘political and military consequences’.
The irrational Russian attack brings together not only the Ukrainians, but also the European member states. Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, who until recently was considered a friend of Putin, immediately joined the call to cut Russia off from payment system Swift. Significantly, the Polish Prime Minister traveled to Germany to appeal to Chancellor Scholz’s conscience and made it clear to him that the 5,000 helmets Germany was planning to supply should be considered ‘a joke’.
At the same time, with every hot shower we take and every thermostat we turn up, we are still contributing indirectly to this war and directly to Putin’s position of power. In recent years, Europe has failed to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. The dependence is only increasing for the time being. The Netherlands has been anxiously awaiting the completion of a nitrogen installation that will allow us to import even more Russian gas.
Government leaders must explain that we will pay the price for this in the near future. Europe has also collected a peace dividend in this area, which must now be returned. It would be good if European politicians emphasize this more and prepare their people for sacrifices. There are higher values in play than purchasing power tiles. The freedom and security of the whole of Europe is at stake.
Because the West – with good reason – does not want to intervene militarily in Ukraine directly, it has a duty to hit the Russian regime as hard as possible by other means. The damage that this inflicts on ourselves is just a minor issue. Vladimir Putin cannot win this war.
The position of the newspaper is expressed in the Volkskrant Commentaar. It is created after a discussion between the commentators and the editor-in-chief.