EU’s top diplomat pledges support to Kyiv regardless of US position

The European Union (EU) will continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, regardless of the stance of a new US presidential administration, stated top EU envoy Josep Borrell during a news conference following the United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

“I don’t know what the Americans, the US with a new presidency will do or not. But for the time being, allow me to say that the European Union’s support, military, civilian, economic, financial and humanitarian, is greater than the U.S.,” Borrell reminded.

At the outset of the February 2022 all-out war, no one expected Ukraine to resist, despite the incredible difference in military capabilities, the EU’s top diplomat said. 

“The fact that Ukraine was resisting was a kind of miracle. At the beginning, what [did] we offer to Ukraine? We offered helmets! Now we are offering F-16s, and that’s quite a difference, no?”

Not supporting Ukraine would mean making a historic mistake, Borrell said. 

“One thing for me is clear: as far as Ukrainians want to resist, we have to support them,” he said.

Capitulating Ukraine and transforming it into another Russian proxy akin to Belarus is not the quickest way to end the war, Borrell said after the UN Security Council meeting.

“And I heard here some ‘peace lovers’ say that they love peace, and they want peace in the quickest possible way,” Borrell said. “Yes, they love peace; me too, the European Union [loves peace] too. Ukrainians more than anyone else. If someone is willing [to have] peace, it is certainly the Ukrainians which are suffering the consequences.”

The quickest way to achieve peace is for Russia to withdraw its troops, and the war ends, said the diplomat. Peace is not subjugation, capitulation, or occupation, which is why a lasting peace is needed. 

“Yes, without our support, Ukraine would have to surrender. Is that what they are proposing? [It is] not our case. We do not want this way of ending the war. We do not want Ukraine surrendering and losing its national identity, its freedom and its territory, and becoming a second Belarus,” Borrell stated.

He also urged the West to increase assistance to Kyiv ahead of winter to prevent “plunging Ukraine into the dark,” he told Reuters.

Borrell continued: “We have to support Ukraine not only providing military capacity, but electricity production capacity. Otherwise, this country will be facing a very hard time in winter.”