The EU will hold a summit at its headquarters in Brussels to discuss issues such as aid to Ukraine and negotiations on its accession to the EU. However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has made a move and vowed to veto both issues related to Ukraine, putting the EU summit at risk of failure. On the other hand, U.S. military support for Ukraine is also facing a situation where Congress has not been able to approve it for a long time. As the war in Ukraine approaches its second anniversary, the Western world's support for Ukraine faces a grim moment.
EU leaders meet in Brussels from Thursday (December 14).Decide whether to start accession talks with Kyiv and give it 50 billion euros in economic support。EU member states will also ** how to continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia's invasion.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is expected to veto both measuresHe claims that the EU will not be allowed to make mistakes, even if he is the only opponent among the leaders of the 27 member states。The Hungarian authorities insistedThey oppose Ukraine's accession to the EU in principle because of Zelensky's inadequacy in the fight against corruption。Clearly, Orban's position could lead to the failure of the EU summit and leave Ukraine and its neighbor Moldova, which also wants accession talks, out in the cold after nearly two years of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Perhaps in order to try to change the above position, the EU threw an olive branch to unfreeze Hungary, but Budapest still refused to budge. Orban reiterated on Wednesday (December 13) that he firmly opposes the start of EU accession talks with Ukraine, a position that should not be affected by the expected thaw of European funds. In an interview, the leader declared: "On issues of great political importance, we have never changed our minds about whether or not we have financial support." ”
Hungary has closer ties with Russia than other EU member statesOrban is seen as Russia's most powerful ally in Europe。In a meeting with Putin in October, Orban admitted that although the European Union supports Ukraine's resistance to Russia, Hungary has always opposed it and has never thought about confronting Russia. At that time, it was pointed out that Orban was likely to oppose it at the end of the year during the Ukrainian accession talks.
Last weekend (December 10), Argentina's new ** Milley was sworn in in Buenos Aires, during which Zelensky and Orban had a brief conversation that lasted only 20 seconds. Live ** Display,The expressions of both sides were more serious, and the atmosphere of the conversation seemed a little tense。Zelenskyy later said of the conversation that he wanted Orban to give an explanation of his opposition to Ukraine's accession.
After leaving Argentina, Zelensky visited Washington, where he went to Capitol Hill and met with the United States** Biden. Ukraine** met with the leader of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Johnson, on Capitol HillBut his request for more support has been questioned。Although Biden still promised Zelensky that the United States would provide critical ** and equipment "to the best of our ability", there has been a subtle change from the wording of his previous statement, which seems to be less confident.
In a bid to continue his quest for support from Western countries, Zelenskyy made a surprise visit to Norway on Wednesday to meet with the leaders of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, where they held talks on Ukraine's need to provide more support to Ukraine in its resistance to Russia's invasion. The leaders of the five Nordic countries have jointly issued an article before the meetingThe Nordic countries will continue to provide comprehensive assistance to Ukraine
On the same day, the leaders of the two most important countries of the European Union, Germany and France, expressed their support for Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged to seek sustained financial support for Ukraine to defend itself against Russia's invasion during EU budget talks this week. France** Macron also called on the EU to rise to the challenge and provide comprehensive and lasting support to Ukraine.
In addition, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made a similar appealShe urged the EU27 countries in the European Parliament to support Ukraine until the time is not needed。"In addition to our political support, Ukraine needs our sustained financial support," she said. We must provide Ukraine with everything it needs to be strong today so that it can be even stronger tomorrow. ”
But even so, Orban could still veto the EU's Ukraine-related agenda with one vote. In this case,The bipartisan confrontation in the United States and divisions within the European Union have made it possible for Western military support to Ukraine to be interrupted, the Kiev side will find itself in a critical moment on the second anniversary of the outbreak of the war.
In fact, at this point in the war in Ukraine, the current situation has emerged due to the stalemate on the battlefield and war fatigue within the West, and there are obvious differences about whether they can win in Ukraine and whether they will continue to support it. Clearly, this is good for Russia, with Putin's rare trip to the Middle East accused of trying to regain his position in global politics, while also announcing in a high-profile manner that he will seek re-election to Russia next year.
StillNo one can say that there will be no turning point within the WestThe development of the international situation is always ever-changing, and until there is an absolute reversal in the battlefield situation and the balance of forces, we still cannot lightly say who will eventually kill the deer.