Josep Borrell Faces Criticism After Being Outplayed by Russia’s Sergei Lavrov
Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, faced severe criticism after his visit to Moscow, where he was perceived as being outmaneuvered by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The visit, which occurred earlier in February, left Borrell and the EU in a position of embarrassment, as the foreign policy chief struggled to assert the EU’s position in the face of Moscow’s diplomatic maneuvering.
Despite this setback, analysts suggest that the EU’s disjointed response to Russia will prevent any significant shift in policy. There is a deep divide among EU member states on how to approach Russia, with some countries pushing for harsher sanctions and others more cautious. As a result, even in the wake of this diplomatic humiliation, experts expect no immediate change in the EU’s approach to Russia’s increasingly assertive behavior under President Vladimir Putin.
