EU chief diplomat says EU must find financial solutions for Ukraine

The European Union should continue to provide military support to Ukraine so that it can enter possible peace talks from a position of strength, and find the resources to do so, even if it has not done so before. 

Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that even if there had been no such precedents before, the EU should do more to provide military support to Ukraine to strengthen it in the war with Russia.

"We have contributed over €134 billion, including close to  €50 billion in military aid. We cannot be talking [of] doing less when we should be doing more. Where there's a will, there's a way. So I don't accept the argument that this or that has never been done before. I want this to find further financing solutions for Ukraine," Kallas said at a conference of EU ambassadors in Brussels.

Kallas pointed out that Ukraine "needs to be our top priority because Putin wants all of Ukraine and it is not his to have".

"We have to help to end this war, but for peace to endure in the way that Ukraine deserves, we must push the Kremlin to change its goals. The only language they speak is strength. This is why I welcome the US commitment to peace through strength," she noted.

She emphasised that the collective GDP of the European Union along with the UK, USA and Canada is 25 times higher than Russia's. 

"We must all be stronger on Russia sanctioning. Those who help Russia keep its war machines running, blocking profits from oil and gas that directly support the state budget. Our sanctions are working," Kallas stressed.

Today, ahead of the informal summit of EU leaders, Kaja Kallas stressed that a potential "trade war" between the US and Europe would be detrimental to both sides.