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“Russia and the West are fighting on two fronts,” writes De Volkskrant.
On one front, Nato has pledged support to Ukraine against Russian aggression. During a visit to Kiev, the military alliance’s general secretary Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned Russian president Vladimir Putin’s “bellicose stance” towards Ukraine, which Russia considers to “destabilise”. Rasmussen demanded the withdraw of 20,000 soldiers Nato says Russia has amassed along the Ukraine border in recent days and warned of Russia using “the pretext of a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission as an excuse to send troops into eastern Ukraine”.
On the other front, the paper writes that economic recovery in Europe is threatened by trade war between Russia and the West. In response to severe sanctions adopted by the European Union and the United States, Putin announced on 7 August a one-year ban on imports of meat, fish, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. For the moment, the European Commission has already “reserved the right to take measures” against the Russian boycott.
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