French media: The vise is tightening, Putin warns the EU

President of Russia Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday that if the European Union continues to expand its military forces, or "does not stop the peaceful resolution of the Ukraine issue but continues to fund the escalation of the war in Kyiv," Russia will respond with a loud blow. Not long ago, US President Trump ridiculed Moscow as nothing more than a "paper tiger," and while the Kremlin was angry, it tried to maintain restraint publicly, with its spokesperson responding that we are not paper tigers, but real bears. Now, why has Putin suddenly become so angry with the EU?

Let's first look at what Putin actually said. Recently, not only did its aircraft enter the airspace of the Baltic states, but its drones also flew over the military territories of Denmark, Germany, and Norway. With the continent of Europe being troubled by its "hybrid war," it is mobilizing in response. On October 2, Putin delivered a speech in Sochi, threatening the European Union, saying, "Germany says its army should once again become the strongest army in Europe... What does this mean? No one should doubt that Russia will take swift retaliation."

Putin's Russia launched a war against Ukraine, yet accused Europeans of fueling the conflict in Ukraine, hindering its resolution, and supporting the "continuous escalation" of the war. Moreover, Putin emphasized that he had nothing to do with the outbreak of the war, saying, "We have never participated in any military confrontation," but that Europeans have always blamed Russia for continuing hostilities. Putin said, "Unfortunately, the fighting has not been able to stop so far, and the responsibility lies with a few people, especially the Europeans who continue to escalate the conflict."

Putin turned the blame around, lecturing Russian officials who are usually obedient to him. When he became excited, he mocked "the hysterical European leaders who are shouting about an imminent war with Russia." He said, "I advise them to mind their own business, such as the mess that is happening every day on the streets of Europe." Putin spoke at length, and suddenly mentioned a Russian "ghost ship" intercepted by the French on September 28, and pretended to be innocent, saying, "I don't know to what extent this oil tanker is related to Russia," while accusing the French of "robber's behavior" when they boarded the ship.

Putin made his intention clear, and the propagandists of the Kremlin sang in unison. For days, feverish topics such as NATO is impatiently preparing for a war against Russia, and the French navy boarding the Russian ship "Pushpa" were all discussed. The author of the Russian Telegram channel 'Colonel' wrote, "The situation surrounding the 'ghost fleet' could become a source of further escalation. Russia will escort these tankers with its warships, and EU countries will try to limit it. We are approaching potential direct confrontation points between Russia and the EU every day." However, Russian media said nothing about the MiG-31 fighter jets entering the airspace of Latvia, or its drones intruding into the territories of Poland, Romania, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany, and Belgium.

In fact, the reason for the Kremlin's aggressive tone is that the Western economic and military vise on Russia is tightening. Particularly unprecedentedly, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal citing an anonymous source, the US could provide intelligence to Ukraine to help Kyiv conduct remote strikes on energy targets, refineries, oil pipelines, and power plants within Russia. In fact, Ukrainian drones have carried out many attacks on Russian energy facilities, and Russia is now facing major energy problems. Within just a few months, Ukraine has reduced Russia's refining capacity by 38%, gasoline is clearly in short supply, leading to rationing, long queues at gas stations, and many stations forced to close due to lack of fuel. In Crimea, Astrakhan north of the Caspian Sea, and even in the Far East, the amount of gasoline given per vehicle is now limited to ten or twenty liters.

Another thing that worries the Kremlin is that US President Trump is considering the possibility of providing Ukraine with Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of up to 2,500 kilometers. Putin is furious about this, warning that if Ukraine gains Tomahawk missiles, it would mark an "escalation of tensions between Russia and the US," because "Ukraine cannot use Tomahawk missiles alone without the involvement of the US military."

Additionally, the EU is planning to provide 1,400 billion euros of the 2,000 billion euros in frozen Russian central bank assets, under the name of "war compensation loans," to Ukraine to meet Ukraine's growing financial needs after three and a half years of war. The Russian Duma stated that using the frozen Russian funds "constitutes an act of war," and the Kremlin spokesperson criticized it as a "theft plan" by Europe.

As a retaliation, Putin signed an order on Tuesday authorizing the accelerated sale of several Russian and foreign companies operating within Russia. This is not the first time since the start of the Ukraine war three years ago that the Kremlin has threatened to seize foreign assets. Analysts point out that Moscow will not act quickly, but everything is already prepared.

Source: rfi

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845014005388506/

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