Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
Josep Borrell, Coordinator of European Foreign Policy, said in his speech on the sidelines of the G7 ministerial meeting in the German city of Münster that the meeting comes at a time when everyone is talking about war more than peace. In his speech on the developments in Ukraine, Borrell added that Russia, led by Putin, is destroying Ukraine, and Russia cannot occupy the country or achieve military victory, and that is why they are systematically destroying Ukraine. They bomb and destroy civilian infrastructure. Millions of Ukrainians can no longer have electricity, and what Putin wants to do is put the country in the dark in winter. This is a war crime. Along with nuclear threats. There is the use of conventional weapons, they are destroying a country, killing civilians, trying to demoralize Ukrainians. That is why we must continue to support Ukraine. [We] have to continue to support them, provide weapons to defend themselves, provide economic and financial support, and reach out to the whole world to explain the causes and consequences of this war.
"Food and fertilizers are not subject to EU sanctions. It is not [because of] our sanctions that there is food scarcity in the world. It is because of Russia's embargo on grain exports from Ukraine. It is good news that Russia has decided," Borrell said in his speech published by the European Union in Brussels. Back to the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.But for several weeks and months, Ukrainian grain was not exported.You can count how many people are starving.
Therefore, we have to reach out to the international community. We must continue to apply sanctions to the Russian economy. We have to support the Ukrainian army, as we do now. The European Union has already allocated 22 billion euros to support Ukraine - 22 billion euros. I do not count in this figure the military support that Member States have given bilaterally. I count only €3 billion from the European Peace Facility (EPF) and €19 billion coming from the EU and member states to support Ukraine financially and economically: providing humanitarian support, providing materials for Ukrainians to be able to support the winter.
Winter is coming and Putin is waiting for "winter" to come and support the Russian army. Now, more than ever, we have to support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. They are fighting and defending their country and we have a moral duty to support them.