Ukraine is Putin’s ‘tool’ to put Europe on its knees, says Albanian premier

Bloomberg

A key motivation for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was to sow turmoil more broadly in Europe, and he’s now seeking to make the entire continent suffer, according to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Speaking in an interview at his office in the capital, Tirana, Rama described Ukraine as “the tool to fulfill the ambition of Vladimir Putin to put Europe on his knees.” “This is what I’m afraid many people don’t understand,” said Rama, who’s hosted European leaders for a summit on the Western Balkans. “It’s not about Ukraine, it’s about Europe.”
“And the bet is very, very clear to me, to make Europe suffer economically and financially to the point that something under the rug starts to fire up and create instability and chaos within the European countries,” he said.
With Putin’s war in Ukraine in its 10th month and his troops bogged down on the ground, the Russian president has resorted to large-scale missile strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, hitting targets that trigger widespread blackouts and disrupt gas flows to Europe.
Members of Putin’s administration have also accused Nato, which Albania joined in 2009, of waging a “proxy war” against Russia by supplying Ukraine with military and economic aid.
European leaders have accused Putin of weaponising energy against Ukraine and the continent as a whole. The Russian leader has periodically halted gas flows to countries in Europe. For months, Ukraine’s war-hit ports were also unable to export much-needed grain, adding to global food price inflation and cost-of-living pressures.
Rama said Putin’s broader goals argue even more strongly for Europe to keep resisting his tactics. While Albania is not part of the EU, Rama has been a fierce critic of Putin and his war.
The bloc backed a price cap on Russian oil that kicked in after months of fraught negotiations.