ROME, December 22, Reuters - The European Union has little leverage with Russia over Ukraine but needs to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin to calm tensions, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.
Draghi told reporters that Europe did not have a major military force of its own and he saw little prospect of imposing sanctions on Russian gas imports as a way of forcing Putin to back down in his confrontation with Ukraine.
Russia has tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine, which has led to fears that Putin is planning an invasion of the country, something Moscow has denied.
The question should give us pause for thought, Draghi told reporters at an end-of-year news conference.
Do we have missiles, ships, cannons, armies? At the moment, Draghi said that NATO's strategic focus was not on Russia, but rather on the Indo-Pacific region, an area encompassing the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
We Europeans have at least some sort of economic deterrence. We need to think a moment. Are we able to do it in a strong way if we want to impose sanctions that also include gas? The answer is 'no', he said.
Due to these limitations, the European Union needed to maintain a state of engagement with Putin, Draghi said, adding that he thought it was still possible to avoid irreversible decisions regarding Ukraine.