SHANGHAI, December 19. /TASS/. The European Union has lost the ability to engage in a proxy conflict with Russia due to the community's worsening financial situation, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, told TASS.
"Their financial situation is steadily deteriorating, making it impossible to continue this proxy war, which is why they resort to such risky measures," he said while commenting on the EU's failed attempt to expropriate Russian assets at a summit in Brussels.
The idea of using frozen assets for military purposes "effectively exposes the hypocrisy of the EU," which regularly emphasizes the inviolability of the rule of law and private property, the expert said. "Belgium's actions essentially preserve the EU's reputation at a basic level, while other countries are guided by ideology, seeking to exert maximum pressure on Russia," he said commenting on the Belgian government's position on the issue of Russian assets.
Previously, EU summit participants failed to agree on the expropriation of Russian assets, but instructed the European Commission to continue preparing instruments necessary for this.