MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. It is the EU and the UK that have suffered the most economic and reputational damage from Washington’s U-turn in policy towards Russia and the Ukraine conflict, Andrey Sushentsov, dean of the International Relations Department at Moscow State Institute of International Relations and member of the Russian Security Council’s expert board, told TASS.

According to him, the US was the first to realize that it’s impossible to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, which is why Washington decided to pull out of the coalition countries supporting Ukraine, reaping benefits in the process. Besides, "Washington imposed a trade agreement on Brussels that benefits the US by stepping up the outflow of funds and industries from Europe to the United States."

"The biggest losers include, apart from Ukraine, the EU and the United Kingdom, who were forced to bear the main burden of spending on supporting the Ukrainian army but weren’t even invited to talks when important decisions were being made," Sushentsov added.

The United States’ actual withdrawal from the anti-Russian coalition, in his words, left the Europeans with a difficult choice as direct military involvement was out of the question but their enthusiasm to fund Ukraine had faded. In the expert’s view, this exposed profound internal divisions in the EU, where countries split into hardliners and moderates. "The West was forced to radically change its strategy, abandon the goal of securing a military victory in Ukraine, and search for ways to settle the conflict," the American studies expert pointed out.

The prospects for Ukraine’s imminent defeat pushed Washington to increase efforts to find a political solution, Sushentsov believes. "Many saw the corruption scandal that broke out in Kiev in November as a tool to put pressure on the Ukrainian leadership in order to force it to make peace. Washington has made it clear that if Kiev refuses to negotiate, the US may end crucial support for the Ukrainian army," he said.

The expert described the start of discussions of Russia’s settlement proposals as "a major victory for Moscow." "The focus of the dialogue now is on fundamental issues regarding Ukraine’s internal politics and European security, not just a freezing of hostilities, which is what the West proposed earlier," Sushentsov concluded.