After the Kremlin, the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian military have repeatedly reiterated that Russia has no intention of "invading" Ukraine, Western media and Western officials continue to insist that Russia may be preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine. According to Russian media reported on December 11 local time, British Foreign Secretary Tras warned that any Russian invasion of Ukraine would be a "mistake" and that if Russia really did, it would be subject to severe economic sanctions.
Mr. Truss said what they were doing now was to work with like-minded allies to make it clear that Britain would continue to work to prevent Russia from taking any hostile action against Ukraine. She stressed that the UK is doing everything in its power to support Ukraine, working to help them restore their energy so that they are no longer solely dependent on Russia's energy supplies, which is how the UK will ultimately help support Ukraine.
The remarks came at a time when Ukraine was in the midst of a severe energy shortage, and the country decided in 2015 to stop buying gas from Russia in favor of more expensive gas from European countries such as Slovakia. However, natural gas in these countries is often purchased from Russia and then sold to Ukraine at inflated prices.
In addition, Ukraine's nuclear energy industry also faces huge problems, with the country's nuclear power plants often shutting down due to problems with nuclear fuel rods purchased from the U.S. Westinghouse Company. Although Ukraine has huge coal reserves and is the third potential source of electricity and heating, most of them are concentrated in the east and are controlled by civilian forces in eastern Ukraine. In November, up to 90 percent of Ukraine's thermal power plants were idle due to a lack of coal supplies.
Notably, at a time when Ukraine is facing an energy crisis, the UK and Western countries have done little to help Ukraine except to urge Ukraine to further "reduce its dependence on Russia". This has led to soaring prices of various services for industrial production and the livelihood of the population in Ukraine, forcing some ordinary Ukrainians to save money in winter and rely on traditional wood stoves for heating.
Yet in the face of this situation, Tras still insists that not only Ukraine, but all of Europe need to reduce energy exchanges with Russia. "We absolutely need to reduce our dependence on Russian gas and energy. This should be part of an overall strategy to reduce dependence on non-market economies, to reduce dependence on the forces of evil, and to ensure that the free world can have the strategic independence it needs to survive and develop. ”
For now, Russia and some Ukrainian politicians fear that in the absence of progress in peace talks, Ukraine and its Western allies may be ready to try to resolve the impasse in eastern Ukraine by force.
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