EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell has sought to put people’s minds at ease amid a perceived waning interest in support of Ukraine on the part of Europe.
Arriving at the EU foreign affairs’ meeting in Brussels, Borrell said that the fact that the EU is engaged [in] looking for a solution in the Middle East does not mean that the bloc is not continuing its support of Ukraine.
“Don’t worry, don’t worry, Ukrainians have not to worry – European support continues as stronger as ever, and it will continue,” he asserted.
Borrell divulged that the bloc’s ministers will work toward achieving a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine in meetings in Brussels, with Germany saying that it backs the initiative.
“What we want to do is to build a two-state solution. So let’s talk about it,” Borrell told reporters, telling Israel that “peace and stability cannot be built only by military means.”
German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock said before heading into the meeting that the two-state solution is the “only solution” to the conflict, and “all those who say they don’t want to hear about such a solution have not brought any alternative.”
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, arrived in Brussels with a mission to revive the EU’s support for Ukraine in the face of continued Russia’s “madness.”
“If they [Ukraine] are unsuccessful, we have to be ready to answer the question, who will contain Russia then? And there’s nothing else who could contain Russia, apart from NATO and apart from the countries who are closest to Russia.
“And that means also my country. It means Poland. That means other countries on the eastern flank. And so it’s a battle of self-preservation as well for Europe.”
Gabrielius Landsbergis
Elina Valtonen, Finland’s Foreign Minister, also underscored the need for “significantly more volume” and long-term support for Ukraine.
When asked about the importance of the European Peace Facility, an instrument the EU has used to provide military assistance to Ukraine, the Minister remarked that Finland has been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine, “also on a bilateral basis, though we deem it important that the European Union is unified in this and each country contributes according to the capital key.”
“So whichever means is necessary to fulfil the immediate needs that Ukraine has now, but also our position is very firm on this: we have to find a strategic, long-term way of also ramping up our common European defence industry and our capabilities.”
Elina Valtonen
Stopping Russia Will Get More Expensive Later
Moreover, Latvia’s Foreign Minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, told reporters that the world needs to open up its eyes and realize that Russia will not stop its war in Ukraine, adding, “the only way that Russia will stop is if it’s actively stopped.”
He noted that Ukrainians are willing to put up the fight.
He added, “Ukrainians need our western, undivided support – European Union support.”
“So we have to come finally to the decision to make sure that we have the funding for Ukraine for the coming years, so they can continue to sustain their government,” he said.
He also stated that the bloc has to make sure that it provides the weapons and the ammunition that Ukrainians need in order to do this task.
“For anyone who thinks that it’s expensive to support Ukraine, that this money is better spent elsewhere, I can only say it will only get more expensive in the future. If we do not help Ukraine stop Russia now, it will be only all the more expensive for us later, because Russia will not stop.”
Krišjānis Kariņš
