EU foreign ministers promise no additional air defense for Ukraine

0

Abroad Meeting in Luxembourg

EU foreign ministers promise no additional air defense for Ukraine

| Reading time: 2 minutes

“This could indicate that critical infrastructure was hit”

In the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the television tower was badly damaged in a Russian attack. According to the city’s governor, there are currently problems with digital television reception. WELT chief presenter Tatjana Ohm reports from Kharkiv.

You can listen to our WELT podcasts here

In order to display embedded content, your revocable consent to the transmission and processing of personal data is necessary, as the providers of the embedded content require this consent as third party providers [In diesem Zusammenhang können auch Nutzungsprofile (u.a. auf Basis von Cookie-IDs) gebildet und angereichert werden, auch außerhalb des EWR]. By setting the switch to “on”, you agree to this (revocable at any time). This also includes your consent to the transfer of certain personal data to third countries, including the USA, in accordance with Art. 49 (1) (a) GDPR. You can find more information about this. You can revoke your consent at any time using the switch and privacy at the bottom of the page.

They continue to confirm their support, but not in the form of further military aid: at their meeting in Luxembourg, the EU foreign ministers rejected the delivery of additional air defense systems for Ukraine.

NAfter the US House of Representatives approved further military aid for Ukraine, the EU foreign ministers reiterated their support for Kiev – but without promising the additional air defense systems requested by Ukraine. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) described the yes vote in the US Congress Chamber at the meeting of chief diplomats in Luxembourg on Monday as an “important moment for securing the European peace order”. However, no state has so far followed their appeal to deliver more Patriot systems to Ukraine.

The federal government announced in mid-April that it would deliver another Patriot system to Ukraine. “What we need is for us to act, but sometimes it is necessary to discuss before acting and that is what we are doing today,” said Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren. Spain’s chief diplomat, José Manuel Albares, said his country had “always done everything it could, within its capabilities.” However, neither of them commented on the delivery of further Patriot systems to Ukraine.

also read

The Netherlands and Spain are among the European countries that have Patriot batteries, along with Germany, Sweden, Poland, Greece and Romania. The surface-to-air missiles are considered particularly effective against hypersonic missiles, which the Russian military is currently using to increasingly attack Ukraine’s infrastructure.

“I would like us to decide more quickly,” said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in the afternoon. The Polish Foreign Ministry, for its part, had stated that, in its view, it would be better if “Western European” states supplied additional Patriot batteries – and not the states further east and closer to the “front line”.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba addressed the EU foreign ministers in a statement via video link with the words: “Now that you are all sitting here at the table, it is time to act and not discuss.” The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell confirmed , things have now “ripened”. “Everything has been said. Now is the time to act,” he appealed.

At their meeting in Luxembourg, the EU foreign ministers also discussed expanding sanctions against Iran. In view of Iranian drone deliveries to Russia and militias such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the EU must “use all the sanctions we have,” said Baerbock.

source site