During a meeting in Berlin on June 24, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Poland (who call themselves the European 5) committed to further “substantially support Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression, including through sanctions and economic pressure on Russia”, and also called for deepening Ukraine’s partnership with NATO.

Apparently, such support also includes acts of piracy in violation of international law. Thus, Britain and France have escalated their provocative and very dangerous game of intercepting, boarding and then diverting oil tankers accused of carrying Russian oil, tankers that Britain and France claim are part of Russia’s shadow fleet. The two countries have imposed unilateral sanctions against vessels carrying Russian oil, claiming that they enjoy the “right” to have their Armed Forces board them. According to London’s Telegraph, the British Government believes that the nearly 100,000 tonnes of crude oil on the Smyrtos “now legally belongs to the UK”.

The Financial Times, for one, as spokesman of the City of London, is fully on the hardline, with its editors repeating the illusion that Ukraine is more than ever in a winning position militarily, so now is the time to increase support for Kiev, including tightening sanctions. Perhaps they would also approve confiscating more Russian assets and oil among the measures of support.

Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin has been somewhat more restrained in his comments about the Europeans than several other Russian officials. Nonetheless, in his address to the United Russia Party Congress on June 27, he made clear that the real threat was not Ukraine, but Kiev’s Western backers. “Russia is experiencing unprecedented pressure from the Western elites,” stressed Putin. The Russian President added: “They are unable to inflict a strategic defeat on us or win a victory on the battlefield; their attempts to destabilise the political situation and sow internal unrest are failing too. Consequently, they keep encouraging the Kiev regime, which they have chosen as a battering ram in their struggle against Russia, without any sympathy for the Ukrainian people.”

Here again, the big question is what Donald John Trump will do. There is very strong pressure from Western Europe, but also within Washington DC, including from his Secretary of State Marco Rubio, for him to abandon his support for dialogue with President Putin and to join the confrontationist camp. When asked about this during a televised interview on June 29, the Russian President said that he doubted that the Europeans would be able to persuade his US counterpart to favour Ukraine, adding: “Trump is an experienced politician. Hopefully, he will be proven right.”

This article was first published in Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) Strategic Alert weekly newsletter (Volume 40, No. 27) on July 2, 2026.

Meanwhile,

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das