“If anyone in Europe believes that he can sell Moscow, Ukraine or any other country, such as the Baltics or the Balkans, Georgia or Moldova, and get something in return, let him remember this simple truth . No one can enjoy calm waters in the middle of a storm.“.
In a brief videoconference speech to the European Parliament to commemorate 1,000 days of war, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskywarned European leaders on Tuesday that there would be no security in the EU if the Kremlin succeeded in its attempted invasion of their country. “They must do everything possible to end this war fairly and together.“, he said.
Without ever saying his name, Zelensky once again criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholzfor his telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin which ended the Russian leader’s two years of isolation. “While some European leaders are considering elections or something like that at Ukraine’s expense, Putin is focused on winning this war. He will not stop alone,” the Ukrainian president stressed.
The kyiv government is calling on its European allies to step up their sanctions against Moscow and provide it with more weapons, with complete freedom to hit targets on Russian territory. “Putin does not value people or rules. He only values money and power. These are the things we need to take away from him to restore peace,” Zelensky stressed.
“Every day is the best time to put more pressure on Russia. And it is clear that without certain key factors, Russia will lack real motivation to engage in meaningful negotiations: without fires in their ammunition depots on Russian territorywithout disruptions in its military logistics“, without destruction of Russian air bases, without loss of capacity to produce missiles and drones and without confiscation of its assets,” he insisted.
The Ukrainian president assured that North Korea, which has already sent 10,000 soldiers to Russia, plans to increase its military contingent to 100,000. “Even with Kim Jong-un’s North Korea at its side, Putin is even smaller than the United States of Europe. I ask you not to forget this and not to forget everything that Europe is capable of achieving,” he concluded.
Josep Borrell greets new NATO chief Mark Rutte at the Defense Council this Tuesday in Brussels
The day that marks 1,000 days of the war in Ukraine is also the day Josep Borrell bids farewell as EU High Representative for EU Foreign and Security Policy. He did this by chairing a meeting of defense ministers (the 123rd of his five-year term) which he also attended. Marguerite Robleswhich avoided the press.
Borrell called on member states to maintain military support for Ukraine even as the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trumpdecides to turn off the tap to force a negotiated solution with Russia. “The Europeans cannot be reactive. They cannot sit back and wait to see what the Americans do and then react. We cannot wait for Trump to make a decision. Our support for Ukraine must continue“, he said.
Of his five years in office, “what will remain in my memory is one day (February 24, 2022), at 6 a.m., when the phone rang and a voice told me: they are bombing kyiv” . “With this short phrase they bomb kyiv, at 6 a.m. a new era in our history begins“Borrell said.
