EU chief diplomat to urge EU countries to increase military support for Ukraine as soon as possible
Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has said that during an upcoming extraordinary summit, the EU will call on leaders to make the necessary decisions as soon as possible to increase military aid to Ukrain.
"I will urge them to reach an agreement as soon as possible, because we’re out of time. In the next month, we have to increase our military support for Ukraine," Borrell said in a comment to journalists before the special summit in Brussels.
Borrell said that Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is the biggest threat to European security.
"It's been almost two years since Russia launched this unjustified war against Ukraine, with the intent of destroying the country and splitting it into pieces. And they continue to do so. We can and should do more to support Ukraine. And if we don't, we will pay a higher price [down the line]," Borrell said.
He also stressed that the EU needs to make a bigger effort to manufacture ammunition for transfer to Ukraine.
Borrel said earlier that EU member states and other institutions had pledged to give Ukraine military aid totalling at least €21 billion.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Danish PM Mette Frederiksen, Czech Republic PM Petr Fiala, Estonian PM Kaja Kallas and the Netherlands' PM Mark Rutte have written a joint letter calling for collective efforts to provide long-term support to Ukraine.
Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, has once again called upon European partners to supply Ukraine with more financial and military aid over fears that US assistance might dry up.
Earlier, it was reported that Scholz wants to use the EU summit on 1 February, dedicated to the mid-term review of the EU budget, to urge partners to send more weapons to Ukraine.