Kaja Kallas says Ukraine’s victory in war is ‘a priority for us all’, adding that it is also in the US interest

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/4724783

China should face “a higher cost” for supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine, the EU’s incoming foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has said.

The former Estonian prime minister was speaking to MEPs during a three-hour hearing before she takes office, when she listed Ukraine’s victory as a priority – stronger words than vaguer formulas of support voiced by some EU politicians.

“Victory of Ukraine is a priority for us all; the situation on the battlefield is very difficult,” Kallas told MEPs in her opening remarks. “That is why we must keep on working every day, today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes, and with as much military, financial and humanitarian aid as needed.”

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  • superkret
    2·
    17 hours ago

    When Europe and the US put sanctions on China and Russia, there’s an obvious problem, though:

    BRICS countries now have a higher GDP than NATO.

    • MaggiWuerze
      3·
      13 hours ago

      I don’t know where you get that but:
      NATO DGP

      The combined GDP of all 31 NATO members, alongside impending addition of Sweden as a member state, amounts to a staggering $45.93319 trillion (calculation below).
      Placing this figure into context, the world’s GDP stands at approximately $100,562 trillion (nominal, 2022). Consequently, NATO’s GDP constitutes a formidable 45.65 percent of the global GDP.

      BRICS GDP

      All five initial member states are members of the G20, with a combined nominal GDP of US$28 trillion (about 27% of the gross world product), a total GDP (PPP) of around US$65 trillion (35% of global GDP PPP), and an estimated US$5.2 trillion in combined foreign reserves (as of 2024).

      Also see this list to see how insignificant the BRICS members are compared to the combination of EU, US and Canada: https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Economy/GDP

      • superkret
        1·
        14 hours ago

        I don’t know what point you’re trying to make. According to your own quoted numbers:

        combined GDP of all NATO members +Sweden = $45.93319 trillion

        total GDP of only the five initial BRICS member states = $65 trillion

        So you compare NATO+ with only a part of current BRICS and it’s still less.

        • MaggiWuerze
          1·
          13 hours ago

          I misread the first quote (have also fixed my highlighting). I now wonder where the number in wikipedia comes from if you add up the GDPs from my third link, the BRICS countries are nowhere close to the the combination of EU, US and Canada, which basically make up NATO…

          Edit: Maybe because their numbers only go up to 2012

          • superkret
            1·
            12 hours ago

            Yeah, numbers from 2012 are useless. Chinas GDP has more than doubled since then.