EU High Representative: If we had wavered less in supporting Ukraine, the war would have been different
EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell has said that the Russian-Ukrainian war "would have been different" if the European Union had not wavered in its support for Ukraine. Source: Borrell at the Munich Security Conference, European Pravda reports, citing Ukrinform news agency Quote: "Supplying Leopard [tanks]? No, this could lead to an escalation.
EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell has said that the Russian-Ukrainian war "would have been different" if the European Union had not wavered in its support for Ukraine.
Source: Borrell at the Munich Security Conference, European Pravda reports, citing Ukrinform news agency
Quote: "Supplying Leopard [tanks]? No, this could lead to an escalation. We will supply Leopard later. Delivery of Patriot [air defence systems]? No, this is a path to escalation. Later we delivered Patriots. If we had been less hesitant in our decisions, this war would probably have been different."
Details: He added that the total amount of EU assistance to Ukraine, including economic, humanitarian and military, is already equal to 90 billion euros.
"We can be criticised, but we should not forget what the EU has already done for Ukraine. We have provided direct military assistance worth 28 billion euros, for the first time in history, we have provided such assistance to a country at war... Remember, two years ago at this conference, we were talking about the supply of helmets. Today we are talking about the supply of combat aircraft," Borrell said.
The EU diplomat added that the European Defence Agency has so far concluded 60 framework agreements with member states to order ammunition from their industries.
So, Borrell stressed, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, and if someone wants to buy more ammunition for Ukraine, they can use one of these agreements.
"If the member states really want to buy more ammunition for Ukraine, they have a way to do it: through cooperation, through the use of a joint order. Everyone is talking about it, but it already exists. The industry side says: we have the capabilities, but what we lack is orders," Borrell concluded.
Background:
- Earlier, Czech President Petr Pavel said that his country had found a creative way to get shells for Ukraine, but it needed funding to do so.
- Earlier in Munich, Denmark called on other European countries not to hide behind production problems in supplying weapons to Ukraine.
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