Ukraine conflict: Russia cautions EU not to grow sick of fighting
In light of the European Union (EU) foreign ministers’ meeting in Kyiv, Russia has been cautioned not to assume “weariness” in Europe about support for Ukraine.
The assembly is being held outside the bloc for the first time. Ukraine is not a member of the EU but wants to be.
The meeting takes place the day after the US failed to include additional military funds for Ukraine in a last-minute budget agreement.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has been referred to as a “existential crisis” by Josep Borrell, the head of EU policy.
Perhaps not everyone in the world sees it this way, but for us Europeans—and let me say that again—it is an existential threat, Mr. Borrell said on Monday.
And for that reason, we must continue to support you and advocate for you with our friends and supporters in the United States.
Over the next four years, Ukraine will receive more than €70 billion (£60 billion) in military and humanitarian aid from the EU.
According to Mr. Borrell, the bloc’s military support is intended to be “sustainable and predictable,” and he is careful to emphasize that member nations continue to approve support and sanctions.
The meeting on Monday was, in the words of French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, “a demonstration of our resolute and lasting support for Ukraine, until it can win.”
The warning to Russia is that it shouldn’t rely on our fatigue. We’ll stay there for a very long time.
The temporary US budget agreement does not include $6 billion (£4.92 billion) in military assistance for Kiev.
However, President Joe Biden said Kiev could “count on” US backing. Since Russia began its full-scale invasion last year, Biden has already sanctioned over $46 billion (£37 billion) in military aid.
Conflict fatigue, according to the Kremlin, would spread throughout both Europe and the US, but Washington would continue to play a direct role in the conflict.
Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, stated on Monday that he believed it to be a “incident” rather than a sign of dwindling support.
Hardline Republicans in the US are opposed to providing Ukraine with more military aid, and many of them are openly against President Joe Biden’s strategy for the conflict.
According to Mr. Kuleba, “We are currently collaborating with both sides of Congress to ensure that it does not (get) repeated again under any circumstances.”
Therefore, we do not believe that US backing has been undermined.
Widening the gap in Russia’s defenses in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine has made some success in its fight against Russia.
Additionally, it has advanced in the area surrounding Bakhmut after Russia relocated some of its most seasoned soldiers from there to fortify defenses farther south.
Russia has continued to launch drone attacks on Ukrainian Danube River ports, harming the nation’s infrastructure for exporting grains.
On Monday, Ukraine reported that many residential and infrastructural structures had suffered damage in the areas of Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, and Kharkiv.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock asked for a plan to protect Ukraine from attacks on the country’s electrical grid, which left millions without heat last winter, in remarks to media at the EU summit.
“Ukraine needs an air defense, a strengthening of the energy supply, and a winter protection plan,” she stated.
The meeting was held after the country’s parliamentary elections were won by the pro-Russian candidate of one of its members, Slovakia.
Former prime minister Robert Fico is anticipated to begin coalition negotiations to create the next administration.
He had already promised to put an abrupt end to Ukraine’s military support.
According to Mr. Kuleba, it is “too early to judge” how the election outcome will affect his nation.
The election results in Slovakia, a divisive election campaign in Poland where Ukrainian backing is under scrutiny, and Hungary’s ongoing efforts to obstruct western aid all indicate that the EU’s mission of fostering complete unanimity among its members will be far from simple.