It’s shame: Europe imported more goods from Russia than it provided aid to Ukraine - Swedish Foreign Minister Stenergard
Europe has a "negative balance of support for Ukraine amounting to €124 billion" because it still imports goods from Russia, particularly oil and gas, worth more than the amount of aid it provides to Ukraine.
According to Censor.NET with a reference to Ukrinform, this was stated by Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malm Stenergard before the start of the meeting of EU foreign ministers.
"Negative balance of support for Ukraine"
Stenergard noted that despite statements about the importance of strengthening support for Ukraine and increasing pressure on Russia, "the truth is that support for Ukraine is insufficient, while support for Russia is excessive."
She cited figures showing that since the start of the full-scale invasion, European countries and Europe as a whole have provided Ukraine with €187 billion in support. At the same time, the EU imported Russian oil and gas worth €201 billion. If other imports are added, the total amount reaches €311 billion, which means that the EU actually has a "negative balance of support for Ukraine amounting to €124 billion."
"This is nothing short of a disgrace," the minister emphasized.
Peace talks
Stenergard noted that despite all the talk of peaceful negotiations, there will be no real peace talks unless partners increase their support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia.
A positive step in this direction would be to use frozen assets for the benefit of Ukraine.
According to Stenhard, Sweden insists that there can be no peace without Ukraine's participation in the discussions, and that Europe must sit at the negotiating table.
"We must focus on changing the situation so that Russia itself wants to sit down at the negotiating table, because it is quite obvious that it is not ready for serious negotiations at the moment," the minister added.
