It had all of the makings of a type of nightmare EU summits.
A crucially necessary assembly that may drag on rancorously late past the tip of the week.
The villain of the piece, Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban – whose critics name him Putin’s puppet – had arrived trying up for a combat.
There was nothing to debate, he stated, when it got here to talks on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
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But by early night a summit shock – striding into the reporters’ corridor, EU Council president Charles Michel had a breakthrough to announce.
The EU had accepted the beginning of talks on Ukraine becoming a member of the union. Hungary‘s opposition had appeared to crumble.
This is a big second for Ukraine. Ukrainians have an opportunity now to satisfy the future they set themselves nearly a decade in the past after they rose as much as throw off Russian domination.
And it provides them much more to combat for.
It will likely be an enormous enhance to morale as they put together for a protracted exhausting winter, with their infrastructure set to be pummelled repeatedly by armadas of Russian drones.
And not a second too quickly. As EU leaders have been assembly in Brussels, in Moscow, their antagonist, President Putin, was sounding as belligerent as ever.
He spelt it out once more: his conflict is about destroying Ukraine as a rustic.
Ukraine’s cities, he stated, have been Russian – the battle is a civil conflict as a result of Ukrainians are actually Russians.
If he prevails, in the present day’s diplomatic victory for President Zelenskyy will likely be irrelevant; there will likely be no Ukraine to hitch the EU.
And that isn’t out of the query now.
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For all its Western-supplied tanks, Western coaching and Western strategising, Ukraine’s counteroffensive has led to failure – casting appreciable doubt over what occurs subsequent.
Russia has realized from its errors and is being armed sooner by autocratic allies than Ukraine is by the West. And Putin has time on his aspect.
There is speak of fatigue setting in in Western capitals. Divisions in Washington and Brussels might jeopardise future Western help.
There will likely be many extra levels in Ukraine’s years-long effort to hitch the EU, each with the possibility of undoing its possibilities.
But make no mistake. This is an enormous deal for Ukraine – one other main step westwards and away from Russia.
And make no mistake both about Vladimir Putin’s dedication to do no matter it takes to thwart it.
Source: information.sky.com”