Europe "cannot relax" its support for Ukraine after US lawmakers approved a $61 billion aid package, Ukraine's most active allies in the region said, The Guardian reports, according to UNN.
Details
Latvia's new Foreign Minister Baiba Braže warned against weakening EU efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against the ongoing Russian attack.
"As Europeans we have to step up; we can’t relax, even though the US has passed the aid package," she said.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis expressed a similar view, describing the long-delayed approval of a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine by the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday.
"We dodged a historic bullet, but unfortunately many more bullets are on the way. Therefore we can be joyous today but we have to be prepared for the battle that is coming tomorrow," he said. "We have to continue to speak about how we are going to assist Ukraine further."
After Germany's recent decision to supply Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense system, EU member states are under increasing pressure to deploy similar military equipment to the battlefields rather than leave it in storage, the publication notes.
"We have been asking all member states to do whatever they can in order to increase the air-defence capacity of Ukraine," said the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, when asked whether he was seeking a contribution from Spain, reported to be facing requests to open its stores.
At a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, they will discuss the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East, where they are expected to impose additional sanctions on Iran.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on Iranian officials and organizations for their role in supplying Russia with military equipment during its attack on Ukraine, as well as for Iran's repression of domestic human rights protesters.
"We are going to take measures with respect to the production and export of missiles and drones," Borrell said, when asked about Iranian sanctions.
Some EU member states are wary of heavy diplomatic punishment for Iran, fearing the consequences for attempts to revive the frozen nuclear agreement, the JCPOA.
More hawkish member states are seeking to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation.
"How many fronts does Iran need to open for us to get serious about sanctioning them," said Landsbergis, who favours the designation. "I hope that two, we reach the limit, where we actually can impose serious sanctions that would actually restrict their military industry from fighting in Ukraine and for fighting against Israel."
EU to take up baton of support for Ukraine after US aid decision - Bloomberg22.04.24, 11:55