Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a 'dark day,' European leaders say

（单词翻译）

Russia's invasion of Ukraine was a 'dark day,' European leaders say

Transcript¹

Europe is facing a new reality: war on its doorstep. Europeans leaders call Russia's attack a blatant² violation³ of international law, and they say a new set of sanctions are the harshest ever imposed.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

There is a ground war on the European continent for the first time since World War II. European leaders met through the day yesterday to come up with a new set of sanctions on Russia that they say are the harshest ever imposed. NPR's Rob Schmitz joins us now from Berlin. Rob, thanks for being here.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE⁴: Thanks for having me.

MARTIN: It is inconceivable for so many Europeans, as you know, that this is happening on their doorstep. Give us a sense of what EU leaders are saying.

SCHMITZ: Yeah, European leaders have called Russia's attack a blatant violation of international law. Here in Germany, Olaf Scholz said it was a dark day for Europe. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the scale of this attack something that Europeans thought were a thing of the past. Here's what he said.

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JENS STOLTENBERG: The Kremlin's aim is to re-establish its sphere of influence, rip up the global rules that have kept us all safe for decades and subvert⁵ the values that we hold dear. This is the new normal for our security.

SCHMITZ: And Rachel, Stoltenberg announced NATO would step up its readiness plans by beefing up forces on its eastern flank along Ukraine's borders. He also said NATO is activating⁶ powers that would give him more flexibility⁷ to use allied⁸ military resources.

MARTIN: So we hear Stoltenberg talking about a new normal in Europe. Many Europeans, though, were really skeptical⁹ that Vladimir Putin would actually do this, would actually go forward with an attack on Ukraine. Are you sensing some surprise?

SCHMITZ: Absolutely. You know, for weeks, many European defense¹⁰ experts publicly questioned the Biden administration's warnings that Russia was on the verge¹¹ of an attack on Ukraine. Now this has been a - sort of a wake-up call for them. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, Germany's former defense minister under Chancellor¹² Angela Merkel, wrote a candid¹³ tweet yesterday, saying she's angry with herself and her colleagues for what she called our historical failure. She said after Russia attacked Georgia more than a decade ago and then the Crimea and Donbas regions of Ukraine in 2014, that Europe had not done anything to deter¹⁴ Vladimir Putin from doing this again. You sort of get the sense that European leaders are rethinking everything they've done when it comes to dealing¹⁵ with Putin. And of course, much of what Europe could have done is not only in the political and security realm, but also with economic ties and trade.

MARTIN: Right. So those economic ties to Russia - now in jeopardy¹⁶, given that the EU has announced new economic sanctions on Russia last night, right?

SCHMITZ: Yeah, and those still need to be finalized¹⁷, but the EU essentially¹⁸ plans to freeze Russian assets in Europe and prevent Russian banks access to European financial markets. The sanctions will also target Russia's energy and transport sectors¹⁹, attempting to stifle²⁰ trade and manufacturing with export controls. Many of these have been coordinated²¹ with the U.S. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen claims these sanctions would cripple Russia's economy. Here's what she said.

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URSULA VON DER LEYEN: It is President Putin who will have to explain this to his citizens. I know that the Russian people do not want this war.

SCHMITZ: But I should note here that many EU members and observers say these sanctions don't go far enough. One action not taken was to remove Russia from the SWIFT financial network, a move experts say could hit Russia's GDP by 5% or more. Still, these threats from Europe are something, and the EU is Russia's largest trading partner, so Russia's markets tanked yesterday from this news.

MARTIN: But this goes two ways, right? It's not just going to hurt Russia's economy.

SCHMITZ: No, this won't be easy on Europe's economy. The EU's the largest investor²² in Russia and depends on Russia for 40% of its natural gas. Germany's halted the Nord Stream 2 gas line from Russia. That's a start. Germany's economy minister says that rough days are ahead, but that ultimately severing²³ these economic ties is the right decision for the survival of European democracy, even if it leads to economic harm at home.

MARTIN: NPR's Rob Schmitz joining us from Berlin with European reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Rob, thank you.

SCHMITZ: Thank you.