President of European Central Bank Christine Lagarde speaks during a press conference in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, July 27, 2023, after a meeting of the ECB's governing council (AP)

After the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to hike interest rates for the ninth time in an effort to counter inflation, ECB President Christine Lagarde told a press conference on Thursday that the economic outlook in the eurozone has "deteriorated."

"The near-term economic outlook for the euro area has deteriorated owing largely to weaker domestic demand (and) high inflation," she said.

Russia's decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative is likely to worsen economic prospects as food prices are forecasted to increase, she added, noting that the withdrawal constitutes "upside risks to inflation."

The ECB will be keeping an "open mind" on future interest rate decisions, Lagarde said, fueling speculation that the ECB could decide to pause its hiking campaign.

"We are deliberately data dependent, we have an open mind as to what the decisions will be in September and in subsequent meetings," she said.

The Eurozone entering recession was no surprise to anyone. The slowdown was anticipated as soon as the first Russia sanctions came into effect with Russia gaining back control over Crimea.

Back then, the EU had enforced several sanctions targeting specific entities and individuals linked to the Russian State.

Although limited in scope, these sanctions showed clear signs that relations between the EU and Russia were treading on a fine line.

What is certain, however, is that the conditions for non-belligerence between Russia and Europe never existed on account of structural power rifts.

Russia is too big to handle and must come apart for the EU/US constellation to maintain global hegemony.