The flag of Great Britain and the flag of Ukraine on the building of the residence of the British Prime Minister in London. File photoMOSCOW, Aug 28For the UK, which is more active than other European countries in supporting the supply of arms to Ukraine, the coming winter will be a serious test of strength, while a change in London's position could destroy the already fragile unity of Europe in the issue of supporting Kyiv, columnist Mary Dejevsky writes in an article in The Nation. According to the author, there are some disagreements within Europe over military support for Ukraine: Britain under Prime Minister Boris Johnson was strongly in favor of military assistance to Kyiv, while France, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Italy show less enthusiasm in this matter.
«Don't care about Ukraine.» The British responded sharply to Johnson's new call «Now, with summer turning into autumn, it's hard not to notice that we are approaching a crossroads that will test the boundaries of European unity, as well as its determination to continue to support Ukraine. Few are ready to admit it. calling a spade a spade, but with European countries facing either double-digit inflation or the prospect of winter electricity rationing – or both – governments are facing an extremely difficult choice,” she writes. notes Dejevsky, is that no matter how much they blame Moscow for provoking an energy shortage, it was Europe that first decided to resort to an «energy weapon», and any suspension in supplies would only be Russia's response to its actions. At the same time, the attempts of the EU or the UK to lay all the blame on Moscow, according to her, will put an «edge» question, which so far everyone is trying to evade: «how long will the public put up with hardships for the sake of principle?» At the same time, the most «hot» ones the debate over skyrocketing electricity prices is taking place in the UK, partly due to the country's lack of a fully functioning government, the author argues. In her opinion, Britain could be one of the last European countries to stop supporting this conflict. , which will inevitably be led by someone who does not have the bright charisma of Boris Johnson,” she emphasizes. As a result, if public pressure causes the UK to start calling for a diplomatic settlement, this could end the “fragile European consensus” and the military support that Europe now it is providing Ukraine, the observer concludes. With the start of the Russian special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, the West has stepped up sanctions pressure on Moscow. These measures turned out to be problems for Europe and the United States, provoking an increase in food and fuel prices. In the UK, the rising cost of living has hit millions of households. According to the forecasts of the Bank of England, the kingdom's economy will enter into recession from the fourth quarter of this year. According to the UK Bureau for National Statistics, annual inflation in April hit a record high since March 1982 — nine percent against seven percent a month earlier. In August, it became known that inflation in the country reached a record high of 10.1 percent. 08/640faa609e4f35f003dd3141b2236acd.jpg» />Humanitarian crisis predicted in Britain amid rising prices
