Brussels 11.12.2023 “At the Council, we focused – as every time, since two years – on the way to help Ukraine in winning its war of defence against Russia’s aggression” said the EU top diplomat Josep Borrell after the meeting of the Ministers of foreign affairs in Brussels.

“This time, Minister [for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro] Kuleba was with us in person and debriefed on the latest developments.
“Ukraine is pushing on two fronts.
“The military one, and in the military front, Russia is regrouping, mobilising more troops, receiving and producing more military equipment. And we have to support Ukraine in facing that.
“And the other front is the accession path, where important reforms have been delivered by Ukraine and where European Union leaders must take important decisions this week.
“Ukrainians are fighting on the battlefield and Ukrainians are working a lot in order to continue doing reforms, in order to deliver and continue on the European Union path.
“Let’s move in detail to the military side. Ahead of the winter and to underline his renewed presidential candidature – because you know they are also calling for elections in Russia – Putin tries to create a new momentum in his war against Ukraine.
“Last night, Russia launched its first ballistic missiles attack on Kyiv in more than two months. There had been a pause, but now, they came back attacking Kyiv with missiles. They continue targeting civilians, infrastructure – export infrastructure – and we must do everything to avoid that Putin’s Russia can prevail and [we] must continue supporting Ukraine.
“We have already launched a dialogue and expert consultations with Ukraine on future security commitments.
“We have to provide operational military support, yes. But we have also to work on a predictable long-term funding.
“Today, at the meeting, an overwhelming majority of Ministers was very clear: this is not the moment to weaken our support to Ukraine. On the contrary, this is the moment to increase [it] and speed it up.
“This is not the moment to weaken. It is the moment to continuously, stubbornly supporting Ukraine, increasing the support.
“To do that, we need to remain united. We need to strengthen our defence industry, to help Ukraine to boost their own defence industry. We need to agree on the 8th European Peace Facility package – which is still pending – and we need to get a new European Peace Facility top-up of €5 billion.
“I expect the Leaders of the European Union to give guidance on these important decisions later this week”.

The Foreign Affairs Council discussed the Russian aggression against Ukraine, after an intervention by Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba who joined EU Foreign Ministers in person. He briefed EU ministers on the latest developments on the ground, and highlighted how Ukraine is currently committed on two fronts: the military front – as Putin tries to create a new momentum in his war ahead of winter and to promote his presidential candidature – and its EU accession path.

The High Representative confirmed that he had already launched the dialogue and expert consultations with Ukraine on future security commitments, underlining the need for the EU not only to provide operational military support to Ukraine, but also to work on a predictable long-term funding.

The European Council is expected to give guidance on security commitments at its December meeting.

The High Representative informed the Council about the work carried out together with the European Commission on revenues coming from Russian immobilised assets. Proposals will be submitted in the coming days to the Council.