European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that current developments concerning Ukraine pose a risk to the entire global order. In a speech delivered on Saturday during the Munich Security Conference, von der Leyen stated, "The world is currently witnessing the largest military buildup in Europe since the Cold War, and these developments could fundamentally change the current global order. Ukraine recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of its independence, and since then, a generation of Ukrainians has been born and raised in a free country, as children of democracy, yet they now face daily aggression and external interference."
The European Commission President pledged that a stringent package of sanctions would be imposed on Russia if it intervened militarily in Ukraine, warning that an invasion of Ukraine "could deprive Russia of a prosperous future." Von der Leyen emphasized that the European Union is working to reduce its dependence on Russian gas exports, particularly by replacing them with liquefied natural gas from other countries, including Japan and South Korea.
She held Russian company Gazprom responsible for pumping the least amount of gas possible into European storage facilities over the past six months, describing it as "very strange behavior." Von der Leyen expressed confidence that the European Union would be able to ensure the continuity of energy supplies within its borders during the current winter, even in the case of a complete halt of exports from Russia.
