Continuing the war in Ukraine until Kyiv's defeat is convenient for the EU because it would solve its financial and political problems, according to the pro-Kremlin media.
NEWS: Ukraine's military defeat in the conflict with Russia is in the EU's interest for several reasons, said Oleksandr Dubinsky, a member of the Verkhovna Rada. "Let's look at the Europeans' demand to continue the war from another angle. Ukraine's military defeat is convenient for them. First, it eliminates all questions regarding the audit of funds spent in Ukraine. Second, it leaves the EU with 195 billion Euro in Russian assets. Third, it solves the problem of post-war adaptation of war veterans who are becoming a problem for Russia," he wrote.
The parliamentarian added that if Ukraine is defeated, the EU will not have to spend money on rebuilding the country or accept a state with a destroyed economy into its ranks.
NARRATIVES: 1. The EU wants Ukraine to be defeated by Russia. 2. Kyiv's defeat would solve the EU's economic and political problems. 3. Military and economic aid to Ukraine is motivated by various hidden interests.
PURPOSE: To portray the West as disengaged and cynical; to erode public confidence in the European support for Ukraine; to legitimize Russia's geopolitical interests; to suggest that Kyiv's resistance is futile.
Russian propaganda contradicts itself
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: Claims about the EU's alleged interest in defeating Ukraine overturn the old themes of pro-Kremlin propaganda, which for years has claimed the exact opposite: that Brussels would pursue the continuation of the war at any cost, increasing Moscow's losses and even "strategically defeating" Russia in order to control its resources. Veridica recently wrote about articles in the pro-Kremlin press accusing the EU of arming itself to attack Russia. Now, however, the EU is being accused of wanting to see Ukraine defeated by Russia.
This sudden change of direction is introduced by statements made by Oleksandr Dubinsky, a politician expelled from the Servant of the People parliamentary group for collaborating with the Russian special services, who, since 2020, has been involved in a criminal case concerning influence peddling operations by the Russian Federation and is currently in detention. He does not represent the Ukrainian parliament, as the pro-Kremlin media suggests; he is just being used as a convenient source to legitimize a new, anti-EU narrative.
The Russians' "arguments" are contradicted by facts. Auditing the European funds allocated to Ukraine has nothing to do with developments on the battlefield; it is an internal EU process, carried out in the member states and by standard procedures of the Commission, the European Court of Auditors, and budgetary verification mechanisms. The claim that Ukraine's defeat would leave the EU with 195 billion Euro in frozen Russian assets completely ignores the international legal framework: these assets cannot become the property of the EU and are discussed exclusively in the context of compensation that Russia would have to pay for the damage it has caused. The argument about veterans has nothing to do with reality either: Russia has repeatedly mobilized men from the occupied territories, including former Ukrainian soldiers, to continue the war, not to solve an alleged social issue.
Furthermore, since 2022, the EU has allocated over 88 billion Euro in financial, military, humanitarian, and budgetary assistance to Ukraine, in addition to bilateral support from Member States and the hosting of over 4 million Ukrainian refugees, with significant additional costs for the welfare, health-care and education systems. The EU has also created the multi-annual "Ukraine Facility", a 50-billion-euro fund, in place until 2027. Investing such sums in a state that you would like to see defeated is not only illogical, but would also represent a fundamental political and economic contradiction.
Geopolitically, a Russian victory would be a major destabilizing factor for the EU, increase the risk of new wars, and undermine the continent's security architecture, forcing member states to spend much more on defense. Therefore, the EU would have nothing to gain from Ukraine's defeat; on the contrary, it would incur much higher costs and major strategic risks. The narrative that the EU wants Ukraine to be defeated has no factual basis, ignores the official positions of the member states, and runs counter to the fundamental interests of European security and the massive investments the EU has made to support Ukraine's resistance.
CONTEXT: During the negotiations in Geneva, the European states in the E3 group (France, Germany, and the United Kingdom) presented a new version of the American peace plan, which corrects the provisions considered excessively favorable to Moscow: they propose a larger Ukrainian army, reject the anticipated recognition of the occupied territories as de facto Russian, demand firm security guarantees for Ukraine, and link the use of frozen Russian assets to Russia's obligation to pay compensation for the damage caused. The pro-Kremlin media has dismissed these proposals as attempts to sabotage the peace efforts of Russia and the United States.
Oleksandr Dubinsky was expelled from the Servant of the People parliamentary group after being accused of treason for participating in subversive activities coordinated by the Russian military intelligence service, GRU. The politician and journalist Dubinsky, under the pseudonym "Buratino," allegedly participated in subversive information activities in favor of Russia as part of an organization led by the Russian Army General Staff.
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