// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
PM's top security adviser says Europe faces hard winter to keep pressure on Putin
The UK national security adviser has said Europe must be ready to endure "real hardship" this winter if it is to keep up economic pressure on Russia.
In rare public remarks, Jonathan Powell told a conference in Kyiv that Europe's strategy of supporting Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Moscow was working.
Powell said talk of Russian escalation was "not a problem" but a "sign of success" that pressure on President Vladimir Putin was finally paying off - and as such European nations should not take their "foot off the gas".
His optimistic remarks come as Russia continues to target Ukrainian infrastructure and as Europe faces a severe energy shortage this winter after drastically reducing its dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Despite Russia's full-scale invasion now being in its fifth year, Powell said Ukraine had "already won" because Putin would not be able to seize the whole country and "a free Ukraine in Europe" would be able to choose its own direction regardless of any territorial loss.
The prime minister's most senior security adviser was in Ukraine's capital only last weekend for talks with US President Donald Trump's envoys after they visited Putin in Moscow.
His remarks at the Yalta European Strategy forum - to an audience of Ukraine's top leadership and international supporters - provided an unusual and detailed insight into UK policy on the war, and were distinctly positive compared to those of others.
Round the clock Russian attacks on Ukraine are damaging the country's economy, weakening morale and raising fears about the coming winter when power shortages are expected.
Oleksandr Kravchenko, Ukraine's minister of economy, told the conference that Russian attacks this year were expected to cost $10bn (£7.4bn) in destroyed infrastructure and assets. With the blockade of Ukraine's sea ports curbing grain exports, he said Ukraine's GDP would contract by 1.5%.
Europe is now preparing for winter amid a global energy crisis and with low stockpiles of gas, making sanctioned Russian supplies of liquid natural gas potentially more attractive to some EU countries.