West strives to present united threat to Russia over Ukraine

The European Union, United States and other representatives of the ‘western alliance’ have taken steps in recent days to present a united front to Russia, amidst continuing fears of a full or partial invasion of Ukraine.

On 26 January, both US secretary of state Antony Blinken and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg have said that they have told Russia unequivocally that they will not bow to the demand that Ukraine will not be admitted into NATO, and that were they to concede on that point, it would be in contradiction of the organisation’s ‘open door’ policy and the principle of self-determination.

In a briefing, Blinken said the United States is ‘continuing to coordinate with our European allies and partners on severe economic sanctions to hold Moscow accountable for its actions. We’ve developed a high-impact, quick-action response that would inflict significant costs on the Russian economy and financial system,’ adding that the US was prepared to impose ‘export controls that will have a longer-term effect, denying Russia products that it needs to fulfill its strategic ambitions.’

This, experts believe, is a reference to a tailored variant of the Foreign Direct Product Rule, applied by the US Department of Commerce to commercially undermine Huawei.

Blinken also said that the allies were looking to ensure continuity of energy supplies in the event that ‘Russia [should] choose to weaponize its natural gas by cutting supply to Europe even more than it’s already done.’

He said, ‘The steps that we will take together swiftly will go directly to things that President Putin cares deeply about, including Russia’s ability to engage economically and financially, including its ability to develop technology for the sectors that it cares most about, like defense, like high-tech, and, as the President said, everything is on the table, and I’ll leave it at that.’

There are reports of consensus that, in the event of an incursion of Ukrainian territory, the Nordstream2 pipeline should be indefinitely closed.