“The European Union has confirmed the priority of supporting Ukraine and strengthening its own defense capabilities, the president of the European Commission said after the meeting of the “coalition of the willing””, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“We all know what’s at stake, and we don’t have time for healing anymore. Providing financial support will help ensure Ukraine’s survival, and this is a decisive act of European defense… Europe has the means and desire to increase pressure on Russia to come to the negotiating table,” said the top EU official.
Von der Leyen stated the significant impact of European sanctions on the Russian military economy. According to the head of the European Commission, the proposal of the so-called reparation loan for Ukraine “increases the cost of the war for Russia.”
“The longer Putin wages his war, sheds blood, takes lives and destroys Ukrainian infrastructure, the higher the costs will be for Russia,” stressed Ursula von der Leyen.
Commenting on the defense of Europe, the president of the European Commission announced a move forward and mentioned the SAFE program, within which member states can receive long-term loans for investments in strengthening their own defense industry.
“While we are still studying the SAFE plans received from member states, Ukraine is included in 15 of the 19 submitted. It’s not just about money – Ukraine is learning hard lessons on the battlefield, and we are learning along with it. By integrating our defense and industrial bases, we are building a powerful deterrent potential – for today and tomorrow,” said the head of the European Commission.
“This is exactly how we will act. United in support of Ukraine and in the defense of Europe,” concluded von der Leyen.
This statement was made against the background of another US attempt to reach a peace agreement to end the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine.
On December 8, US President Donald Trump said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has not yet read the US peace proposals. At the same time, he said that “his people are delighted,” and Russia is generally satisfied with the plan, although “Russia would prefer to have all of Ukraine.”
After that, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that the negotiators, who are discussing the peace initiative with the mediation of the United States, maintain disagreements about the territories.
Read also: Survey: more than 50% of Ukrainians plan to protest in case of unacceptable concessions by Russia during the negotiations
Last week, American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met in Moscow with Russian leader Vladimir Putin regarding the parameters of a possible peace agreement in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Later, Putin confirmed that during the meeting with Witkoff and Kushner on December 2, Russian representatives did not agree with part of the points of the American plan to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
After this meeting, the Ukrainian delegation in the US continued negotiations with representatives of the Trump administration, which lasted several days.