EU to Consult with Ukraine on Security Guarantees
The EU summit in Brussels, which ended on Friday 27 October, has confirmed the intention of joining together to work on "future security commitments" for Ukraine.
As at previous meetings, the EU leaders confirmed their intentions to "provide strong financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes".
In terms of military support, the EU leaders emphasised the need to accelerate the supply of missiles and ammunition, particularly within the EU's initiative to supply a million rounds of artillery to Ukraine, as well as air defence systems "to protect its people and its critical and energy infrastructure".
"In the longer term, the European Union and Member States will contribute, together with partners, to future security commitments to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine defend itself, resist destabilisation efforts and deter acts of aggression in the future," he official document states.
The member states’ presidents have asked the High Representative, the EU's top diplomat, "based on a framework to be endorsed by the Council", to consult with Ukraine on the EU’s future security commitments and report back on the discussions at the European Council meeting in December.
"Military support and security commitments will be provided in full respect of the security and defence policy of certain Member States and taking into account the security and defence interests of all Member States," the summit concluded.
At the summit in Brussels in June, EU leaders adopted a statement expressing their readiness to contribute to future security commitments for Ukraine and to consider approaches to such a contribution.
The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has previously spoken of plans to allocate €20 billion to the European Peace Fund as part of these "security guarantees".