The success of the Ukrainian Security Service in striking a russian oil tanker belonging to the "shadow fleet" in the Mediterranean is an outstanding example of how a country at war is determined to defend its independence.
This is what the authors of The Telegraph write.
The newspaper notes that at every stage of the russian-Ukrainian war - from the ousting of putin's troops from the outskirts of Kyiv to the sinking of the flagship Moskva - Ukrainian defenders refuted the doubts of those who were skeptical. They also used limited resources to stand up to a larger and wealthier power.
And if the West had given Kyiv its full support at an early stage, the situation in Ukraine might look much better now, according to The Telegraph. Even so, there is a strong case for giving Ukraine as much support as possible now, as this should thwart putin's attempts to gain leverage for peace talks.
From this perspective, Europe's EUR 90 billion loan to Ukraine is at least a partial victory. Kyiv is now provided with funds that will allow it to remain solvent for longer. However, the rhetoric of European leaders about the need to support Ukraine today to avoid fighting on its own soil tomorrow is again not matched by the scale of the financial commitment.
The failure to mobilize the EUR 210 billion of frozen russian assets held by European institutions to help Ukraine is another point in this series. Such an inflow of funds would have paved the way for much larger purchases of materiel and a much longer financial runway for the Ukrainian state, significantly strengthening its position at a point of enormous influence in the conflict. This was a missed opportunity for Europe to assert itself and take a stronger stance against moscow.
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