MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. Ukraine’s economic and energy burdens are weighing on its ties with Central Europe; Iran is negotiating with the EU3 to avoid renewed UN sanctions; and Russia is developing Arctic transport routes to bypass Western restrictions. These stories topped Wednesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Europe is increasingly worn out by the burden Ukraine places on its financial and energy security - a view steadily gaining support across the continent, Izvestia writes. In Poland, legislators have already blocked a bill extending benefits for Ukrainian refugees, while Budapest has described strikes against the Druzhba oil pipeline as attacks harming Hungary and Slovakia rather than Russia. A Slovak parliamentary representative told Izvestia that Bratislava will avoid taking harsh retaliatory measures solely because of its commitments to provide assistance to Ukraine under EU obligations. Both Budapest and Bratislava had earlier appealed to the European Commission regarding Ukrainian military attacks.
The growing frustration in Europe with the Ukrainian conflict is now manifesting in tangible political actions, even in countries traditionally among the most aggressively anti-Russian, according to Izvestia. On August 25, the newly elected Polish president vetoed the extension of a law granting social payments to unemployed Ukrainians. Both Hungary and Slovakia have long opposed Ukraine’s accession to the EU. Tensions peaked in August when Ukrainian forces attacked the Druzhba oil pipeline at least three times. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto declared that these strikes amounted to an assault by Ukraine on Hungary and Slovakia.
