Borrell reveals position on a possible deal between Trump's US and Putin's Russia bypassing Ukraine and EU
Kyiv • UNN
The EU foreign policy chief spoke out against a diplomatic solution that would marginalize Ukraine and the EU. Borrell emphasized the need to continue supporting Ukraine even if the US position changes.
EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said that the outcome of the war in Ukraine, which was unleashed against it by Russia, depends on how it ends, rejecting a diplomatic solution "that marginalizes Ukraine and in the process marginalizes us." He said this at a plenary session of the European Parliament on transatlantic relations after the November 13 US presidential election, UNN reports.
The military situation is not easy, with heavy casualties on both sides, but we must avoid a diplomatic solution that marginalizes Ukraine and in the process marginalizes us. A deal between the United States of Trump and Putin's Russia - bypassing Ukraine and the European Union to put a ceasefire on the table while putting political discussions on hold - is something that Ukraine rejects and that we must reject as well. Nothing should be decided without the participation and consent of Ukraine, which is paying the highest price for this war
"Of course, you should try to finish it as soon as possible, but how it is finished is important. It's how it's finished that matters. Maybe for some people [it] doesn't matter. Maybe for someone it is enough that it will end, who knows how and with what consequences, but I think the European Union cannot stop caring. Moreover, it cares very much about what it knows can only be done in a fair and sustainable way," the EU diplomat said.
He indicated that he had just returned from Ukraine. "I had conversations with all Ukrainian officials, with President Zelensky, with his military command. And, of course, of course, they are worried about what the next American administration might decide. They are asking us what our reaction will be when, presumably, [the new administration] - at least that's what [Trump] said during the election campaign - will condition its military support for Ukraine starting in January," Borrell said.
"I believe that the European response can be nothing less than continuing to fulfill our commitments to this country, to Ukraine, to its people, and continuing to provide them with the necessary support so that they, in turn, continue to defend themselves. This will require resources," the EU diplomat emphasized.
According to him, "replacing the United States will require significant financial and industrial efforts that will force us to ask ourselves again the questions we have already discussed." For example, he said, what to do with Russia's frozen funds, "the proceeds of which we decided to use to finance the Ukrainian defense industry, but which, however, will not be enough."
