WHAT'S THE ISSUE?
If there is to be a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine there is little doubt that the rest of Europe will have to play a decisive role.
But just how might Europe, and especially the EU bring that about? And just how much of the current crisis has actually been caused by Europe becoming simply too reliant on Russian oil and gas?
To answer those and many other questions about the rest of Europe's role in the Ukraine crisis, Stephen Cole speaks to Andrius Kubilius, now a Member of the European Parliament, but formerly twice prime minister of Lithuania.
MEET THE EXPERT:
Andrius Kubilius is a Lithuanian politician and a Member of the European Parliament. Before taking his seat in Strasbourg, he served as prime minister of Lithuania twice, from 1990-2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. That second spell was the first time anyone had completed a full term as prime minister in Lithuania.
He now sits on several committees in the European Parliament, including Foreign Affairs and Industry, Research and Energy.
WHAT DOES KUBILIUS SAY?
From the outset Andrius Kubilius is very clear about where things stand in Ukraine, telling Stephen "My conclusion is very simple. He [Putin] is losing that war both in the military sense, in the territory of Ukraine and also in the economic sense back in Russia against tough Western sanctions."
He adds that sanctions are "the way the West can stop the Russian war machine… We hope that the Kremlin will start to understand they don't have the money to continue this war."
Kubilius is also clear that the current conflict is going to mean big changes for the rest of Europe – especially in terms of the supply of oil and gas: "We need to look into a strategy of how to become independent from Russian gas and oil supplies looking into the longer-term future" adding there's no doubt that in recent years Europe has allowed itself to become far too reliant on Russian energy supplies.
And that could be good news for the planet: going forward, he says: "Our energy production will be based much more on alternative energy production."
He also tells Stephen he hopes Ukraine will very soon be admitted to the European Union. "Ukrainians have shown that they are really the strongest of European nations. They are fighting for European values in such a way, which is incredible, and they have the strongest military forces on the European democratic continent."
ALSO ON THE AGENDA
- Sergei Markov, once a member of the Russian Duma and a former public spokesperson for President Putin and Oleksiy Honcharuk, who served as Prime Minister of Ukraine from August 2019 to March 2020 speak about whether there is really any chance of a diplomatic solution.
- One of Ukraine's biggest rock stars, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk describes what life is really like for the people of Ukraine, and what he's doing to improve morale.