Headline: Europe and the United States have taken a tough stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Germany has proposed to confiscate Russian assetsAlthough the Russia-Ukraine conflict has not attracted as much attention as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it is still burning. Ukraine has been seeking help, while Russia has said that rapprochement with Ukraine is not a priority, believing that the so-called "peace plan" promoted by Kyiv is doomed to failure. Russia does not see this as the time to return to the negotiating table easily, and the United States does not seem to intend to let the conflict end there, but is planning a larger confrontation. There have been recent reports that the United States and Europe are keeping a close eye on Russian assets to support a depleted Ukraine. They plan to use $300 billion of Russian assets abroad to help Kyiv. At present, 210 billion euros of Russia's overseas assets are frozen in Europe, tens of billions of assets are located in Asia, and only a few billion in the United States, accounting for less than 3%. This move by the United States is obviously aimed at pushing Europe into a dangerous situation and further inciting the conflict between Russia and Europe, but it can avoid the risk itself. The key is whether European politicians can see the situation clearly, and reality has already given a negative answer. Recently, German prosecutors filed an application for the confiscation of a Russian financial institution for more than 7200 million euros in assets.
At present, Germany has frozen 5.3 billion euros of Russian assets and is targeting the assets of the Moscow** exchange at the German branch of JPMorgan Chase. Previously, Germany froze the assets of sanctioned Russian individuals and companies, such as yachts and real estate. And this time, for the first time, Germany took legal action to try to confiscate the assets of Russian companies on its territory, which was of a very different nature. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently denounced Germany's actions, calling it a "thief" who has been treacherous, violated agreements and tried to deceive others. This is probably a reference to the 2014 mediation between Germany and France that led to the signing of the Minsk Agreements by Russia. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel herself admitted that this was only a temporary agreement in order to buy time to arm Ukraine. Putin has always had a grudge against Germany, and during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Germany actively assisted Ukraine and repeatedly opposed Russia. Even though Germany faces the risk of a recession next year and even cuts subsidies for electric vehicles, it still leaves an 8 billion euro military and financial aid budget for Ukraine. Now that Germany is ready to take the lead in seizing Russian assets, does this conjure up images of "rescuers sent by monkeys"?
Russia is facing an increasingly assertive posture in Europe and understands that it needs to be prepared to deal with NATO, because the challenges they face go far beyond the local conflict in Ukraine. Although the Russian-Ukrainian conflict appears to be calming down on the surface, Russia's combat readiness is more than ever. Recently, Russia announced that it would expand its military by 170,000, bringing the total to 1.32 million. At the same time, Russia also announced its military budget for 2024, with a 70% increase in defense spending compared to 2023, apparently in preparation for future operations. Putin recently publicly stated that in response to Finland's move to join NATO and allow the United States to establish a military base on its territory, Russia will create the Leningrad Military District. At the same time, NATO is also strengthening the defense of the eastern flank, and both the United States and Germany are accelerating their military deployments in Lithuania, Poland and other countries. Not long ago, Germany announced that it would send 5,000 troops to Lithuania and that for the first time, Germany would have a permanent presence abroad, close to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. This series of measures can be said to have completely stifled Germany's upward momentum, not only exacerbated the phenomenon of deindustrialization, but also placed Germany in the position of a bridgehead.
Therefore, Russia must be prepared for a possible protracted conflict, just as wave after wave of cannon fodder will follow.