EU foreign ministers meeting
Ukraine asks EU countries for additional arms aid
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell (r) and Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Toledo. photo
© Andrea Comas/AP/dpa
For the successful fight against Russia, the Ukrainian foreign minister hopes for further deliveries of arms and ammunition from Europe. Export controls for effective sanctions are also necessary.
In order to make it more difficult for Russia to produce missiles and drones, Kuleba also called on the EU states to step up their fight against circumventing sanctions. “We see that production is increasing and that western parts are being used,” he said at the EU meeting in Toledo, Spain. This must be prevented, for example, with export controls.
In addition, Kuleba asked to consider the delivery of additional air defense systems. According to him, these could secure a new route for Ukrainian grain exports, which leads from the Ukrainian Black Sea region towards Romanian sovereign waters.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) said in Toledo: “It is our responsibility to keep reflecting on how we can coordinate our support for Ukraine even more efficiently and in a better coordinated way.” This applies to military support via bilateral security pledges, but also to European support based on solidarity via the so-called European Peace Facility and support for reconstruction.
Regarding the high cost of the support, Baerbock said: “We have to keep reminding ourselves every day: we are investing in peace in Europe.”