The European Union usually needs Washington to stiffen its backbone–but not these days. Meeting in Brussels on Monday, EU foreign ministers vowed to keep economic sanctions on Russia until Vladimir Putin gets serious about a ceasefire in Ukraine and pulls back his heavy weapons from the border.
“I cannot say where the U.S. administration stands on this, but I can say where the Europeans stand on this,” the EU’s foreign policy chief, Frederica Mogherini, told reporters after the meeting. Even Britain’s EU-hating/Putin-admiring Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, claimed to be on board: “The U.K. will be insisting that there is no case for the relaxation of the sanctions, every case for keeping up the pressure on Russia.”
Putin may be counting on his new BFF Donald Trump to bail him out. But the economic realities are hard to ignore. Before it decided to invade Ukraine and annex Crimea Russia did a lot more business with Europe than it did with the US. Vlad can’t live on love alone–at least not forever.