European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell clarified additional decisions regarding the crisis in Ukraine.
“As the war in Ukraine rages on, and Ukrainians fight bravely for their country, the European Union steps up once more its support for Ukraine and the sanctions against the aggressor – Putin’s Russia. For the first time ever, the European Union will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country that is under attack. This is a watershed moment. At the same time, we are strengthening once more our sanctions against the Kremlin and its collaborator, Lukashenko’s regime”, said Commission President Von der Leyen
“We continue to coordinate closely with partners around the globe. And we remain in close contacts with our Ukrainian friends. President Zelensky’s leadership and his bravery and the resilience of the Ukrainian people are outstanding and impressive. They are an inspiration to us all. We welcome with open arms those Ukrainians who have to flee from Putin’s bombs and I am proud of the warm welcome that Europeans have given them. We are mobilising every effort and every euro to support our Eastern Member States – to host and take care of these refugees. We will do this in full solidarity.”, Von der Leyen concludes.
“The war is again on the borders of Europe. President Putin is trampling the statehood and identity of a sovereign Ukraine and its people. We see blatant violations of international law and with more and more civilian infrastructure being targeted, violating international humanitarian law. Putin is bombing, launching missile strikes and killing innocent people. But the Ukrainian armed forces are fiercely fighting back and showing a heroic resistance to this invasion. It’s a people’s army fighting their invader. Putin’s war is not only against Ukraine. We need to understand the gravity of the situation for Europeans and global security: this afternoon, Putin has announced that he is putting Russia’s nuclear deterrent forces on “high alert”. I just had a VTC with the G7 Foreign Ministers, and we were joined by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, who informed us of the latest developments on the ground and Ukraine’s urgent needs. I told him very clearly. You came last week and you asked for SWIFT and for arms. Now we are delivering on both. We are doing everything we can to support Ukraine, we stand by the Ukrainian people in practical terms.”, says HR/VP Borrell.
