In a recent conversation on UnHerd’s The Econoclasts podcast, Yanis Varoufakis delivered a stark critique of Europe’s role in the war in Ukraine. Speaking with columnist Wolfgang Münchau, Varoufakis dismantled the prevailing myth of European “solidarity” with Ukraine, arguing that Europe has managed to do neither what is necessary to win the war nor what is necessary to end it.

“Europe has done nothing to win a war that may be unwinnable and everything to frustrate and obstruct peace,” Varoufakis stated.

This contradiction exposes the deep moral and strategic bankruptcy of Europe’s leaders. If European governments truly believe their own rhetoric, then their military restraint makes no sense.

“If you think that Putin is the new Hitler, what you should do is send your troops in. If you’re not prepared to send troops in – and it is very clear Europeans are not – then you [should] seek peace.”

But Europe is doing neither. Instead, it is stuck in what Varoufakis calls a performative posture: refusing negotiations while also refusing full military engagement. And in this paralysis, Europe is failing Ukraine most of all.

“If you do neither – neither seek peace nor send troops – you are acting as an enemy of the Ukrainians while wrapping yourself in the Ukrainian flag.”

This hypocrisy, he argues, ultimately strengthens Putin: “In the end, you are being Putin’s handmaiden.”

ReArm Europe is more important to the EU elite

The most explosive revelation came when Varoufakis described conversations he says took place inside EU institutions in recent days.

According to him, some in Brussels privately fear that a peace settlement, especially one led by a potential Trump intervention, would be economically inconvenient for Europe’s new militarised agenda of ReArm Europe.

“I have it on good authority that an argument was discussed in Brussels that if peace were to break out in Ukraine following Trump’s intervention, this would be a terrible thing for the military-Keynesian policy of rearming Europe.”

In other words: peace would disrupt the EU’s plans for an enormous, long-term expansion of military spending, a shift that DiEM25 has repeatedly warned is transforming the European project from a peace initiative into a weaponised bloc.

“Yet again you see the hypocrisy – wrapping themselves in the Ukrainian flag, but not giving a damn about the real prospects of Ukraine,” Varoufakis concluded.

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