Best message EU can send is that we will continue stand with Ukraine – Borrell

BRUSSELS. Aug 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell says that the best signal the EU can send Ukraine on Independence Day is that it will continue to stand with Ukraine and must be prepared to pay the price of defending common freedom and security.

"On Ukrainian Independence Day and six months since the Russian aggression started, the best message that the EU can send is that we will continue to stand with Ukraine. We must be prepared to pay the price of defending our common freedom and security," Borrell said in his blog on Wednesday.

He recalled that six months ago, Russia launched "a brutal, unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine: an attack that was both a crime and a major miscalculation."

"President Putin thought that Ukraine’s government would quickly collapse and its President would flee. The Russian regime also assumed that the EU would be divided and unable to muster a forceful response. But Ukrainians rallied to defend their country and their sovereignty, displaying impressive bravery against the aggressor. And the EU with its partners has shown unprecedented unity and determination to support Ukraine in all domains, upholding international legality and the UN Charter," he said.

The EU High Representative noted that normally celebration of independence should be "a time of joy and celebration, as it is for countries around the world on their national days. But for Ukrainians this year it is marked by fears of further attacks and tragedy. For Russia’s invasion has already caused six months of death and destruction."

"We have seen war crimes, massacres and indiscriminate attacks on schools and hospitals; around 10 million people forced to leave their home; and cynical attacks on fields of wheat and the weaponisation of grain exports. Today, in spite of the recent agreement brokered by the UN and Turkey, Ukraine’s grain exports are still far less than what they were last year," Borrell said.

He also noted that in a world "where a bigger country can just invade its neighbour and violate the principle of the non-use of force in such a blatant manner, everyone would be less safe" as this war is sending massive ripple effects around the world.

"The EU has been on the side of the Ukrainians, right from the start of the war, aware that our shared security is at stake. We have adopted six packages of ever more significant sanctions. We have, for the first time ever, financed the delivery of military support to a country under attack, to enable Ukraine to fight back. We are providing humanitarian support and macro-financial assistance, to keep the Ukrainian state afloat. In total, EUR 9.5 billion have been mobilised by Team Europe so far, with up to EUR 8 billion in additional macro-financial assistance in the pipeline. And we have formally decided that we want Ukraine to become a future member of the EU, as part of our family. The EU and Europe are changing in profound ways because of this war," Borrell said.

The EU official also said the EU has to see what else it can do in terms of support to Ukraine and increasing the cost of this war for Russia.

"We will discuss this with EU Foreign and Defence Ministers in Prague next week, including on the issue of visas for Russian citizens and a possible EU training mission for Ukrainian armed forces," he said.

In the coming weeks, "the international community will have to stay the course on our triple strategy: supporting Ukraine, pressuring Russia and addressing the wider fall out of the war."

"This will be at the heart of the discussions at the UN General Assembly in New York in September. Longer term, there is also the question of how we can not only end this war, but prevent another one from erupting in a few months or years from now. That includes important questions around how to enable Ukraine to defend itself as well as the issue of security guarantees. Today, on Ukrainian Independence Day and six months after the start of the Russian attack, the best message we can give as EU is that we will continue to stand with Ukraine. Yes, the coming weeks and months will be very challenging. First of all for Ukrainians, who are paying with their lives, but also for all other Europeans. But we cannot reduce our commitments or lessen our resolve, even when the price goes up. At stake is the future of a fellow democracy and the wider principles of European and indeed global security. We must be prepared to pay this price: the price for our common freedom and our common security," Borrell said in his blog.