Russia shifts war focus to ‘NATO and the West’: European Union official

The military equipment from Germany and U.S. will help Ukrainians “defend (themselves) from these barbaric attacks,” says Stefano Sannino, a European Union official

A senior EU official on January 27 said that Russia has taken its war against Ukraine to “a different stage” by making indiscriminate attacks on civilians and non-military targets, while criticising Moscow for triggering recent moves by Germany and the United States to send advanced tanks to Ukraine.

Stefano Sannino, Secretary General of the European Union’s European External Action Service, defended German and U.S. provisions of the military equipment to Ukraine, and criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin for waging a war on NATO and the West.

Sannino, speaking at a news conference in Tokyo as part of an Asia-Pacific tour, said Putin had “moved from a concept of special operation to a concept now of a war against NATO and the West.”

He said the German and U.S. tank provisions are meant to help Ukrainians defend themselves in the war, rather than making them attackers.

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“I think that this latest development in terms of armed supply is just an evolution of the situation and of the way Russia started moving the war into a different stage,” Sannino said. He added that Russia is making “indiscriminate attacks” on civilians and cities and no longer military targets.