Politico has learned about the EU's unwillingness to openly criticize the conflict in Iran over Ukraine

The member states of the European Union (EU) will not dare to openly contradict Washington and rudely condemn the operation against Iran, since the security of Europe itself and military supplies to Ukraine depend on the administration of US President Donald Trump. This was reported by the Politico newspaper on March 16, citing sources.

"We don't want an escalation of trade relations. We want the United States to participate in the Ukrainian conflict. We want them to be part of NATO. Is it worth risking these goals in order to openly talk about Iran? So far, perhaps not. <...> Is it worth saying: you stupid bastards, why did you do this? No, because we will pay a higher price for it," the source told the publication.

It is noted that the EU member states still cannot come to a unified assessment of the military operation of the United States and Israel against Iran. On the one hand, there is a group of countries that call for declaring at the EU level the inadmissibility of violating international law and aggression against Iran. They are led by Spain, whose Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has openly condemned military actions in the Middle East and banned the United States from using joint military bases to launch attacks on Iran.

On the other hand, there are a number of major European countries, including Germany, that are "afraid to take any steps that might annoy Trump." Politico's interlocutors call the "risks of Trump's irritation" too high.

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Earlier in the day, former head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell accused European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of systematically overstepping her authority in shaping the union's foreign policy. The diplomat noted that the EU had not made enough efforts to protect international law after the US military strikes on Iranian territory.

The day before, the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, said that Washington's shifting geopolitical priorities from the Ukrainian conflict to the aggravation of the situation around Iran creates serious challenges for US allies. She also stressed that Washington's attention is still almost entirely focused on the Middle East agenda.

At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the pause in negotiations on Ukraine was due to a change in US priorities. According to him, Europe does not want to help the peace process, but spends all its efforts on supporting the Ukrainian conflict.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.