An 'all-out' war between Russia and the West.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday (September 9) praised the battlefield victories after Ukraine announced it had made progress in counteroffensives in the south and east, regaining control of several areas.

A full-scale attack by the West would undoubtedly be met with a strong response from Russia. Photo: Reuters

“The HIMARS missile system supplied by the US has enabled Ukraine to carry out counterattacks inside the country. These weapons are changing the situation. We have seen some progress in Kherson and Kharkov. That is very encouraging.”

Russia confirmed that fierce fighting occurred when Ukraine launched attacks against Russian forces; however, it stated that Ukraine suffered heavy losses. The Ukrainian counterattack in Kherson was unsuccessful.

Amidst developments on the Ukrainian battlefield, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that Ukraine is preparing for a difficult winter and that Western countries need to continue providing military support, from winter uniforms, tents, and generators to weapons and ammunition. NATO urged Ukraine to continue fighting against Russia, despite Russia's repeated warnings to Ukrainians that the West is using them as an outpost in the battle against Moscow. The Russia-Ukraine conflict is escalating, and the West is continuously seeking to expand sanctions against Russia.

Yesterday, the European Union Council approved a decision to suspend the visa agreement signed with Russia in 2007, effective September 12th. This agreement provided privileges for citizens of EU partner countries to travel to Europe easily. With this decision, travel to Europe for Russian citizens will become more difficult and expensive. Also on the same day, in an emergency meeting, EU energy ministers considered a proposal to cap Russian gas prices. However, the EU was deeply divided, with around 10 member states openly opposing the proposal.

Germany believes that capping the price of Russian gas could trigger retaliation from Russia in the form of a complete gas cutoff to the EU. This scenario, which Germany fears would particularly affect Central European countries such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Romania. Austria and Hungary also argue that capping Russian gas would be contrary to their interests.

Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said: “I am aware of the proposal for a gas price ceiling, but I am not sure if its implementation would guarantee our gas supply security. The reality is that we have tried to reduce our dependence on Russian gas from 80% to 50%, but we are still dependent. Therefore, this is not a proposal we can support at this time.”

In response to the EU's calculations, Russia announced it would retaliate on the visa issue, while also warning of serious consequences if the EU decided to impose price caps on Russian energy products. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that the West does not fully understand how its actions will affect its own country in the future.

"The West will stumble right where it stands," Russian President Vladimir Putin previously warned that Russia would stop supplying all energy products to Europe if the EU and its Western allies imposed price caps on Russian oil and natural gas.