The European Union has rejected Vladimir Putin's demand for a complete halt to military aid to Ukraine as part of the ongoing ceasefire talks, which the Russian leader has only partially accepted. Despite Putin's demand, the EU insists that Ukraine should have "its own robust military and defence capabilities as an essential component".
Putin doubled down on his demand during a phone call with Donald Trump on Tuesday, when he agreed to halt attacks against energy infrastructure, far less than the broad and unconditional ceasefire the US and Ukraine agreed to last week in Saudi Arabia.
"It was stressed that a complete cessation of foreign military and intelligence assistance to Kiev must be a key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict and achieving progress in its resolution by political and diplomatic means." the Kremlin said in a readout of the phone call.
On Thursday, however, EU leaders, with the exception of one, explicitly rejected this demand. In the conclusions adopted during the summit in Brussels, the heads of state and government reaffirmed their commitment to continue providing arms and ammunition to help the Ukrainian armed forces resist a full-scale Russian invasion.
"The European Union insists on its 'peace through strength' approach, which requires Ukraine to be in as strong a position as possible, of which its own robust military and defence capabilities are an essential part," it states in the text. "It calls on Member States to urgently step up efforts to address Ukraine's urgent military and defence needs."
President of the European Council António Costa before the summit began, he said: "We will continue to support Ukraine now, in future negotiations and especially in times of peace."
The conclusions on Ukraine were endorsed by 26 leaders as a "lift" as Viktor Orbán refused to sign them again. Hungary's prime minister has spent the last few weeks railing against the EU's policy towards Ukraine, suggesting that Trump's inauguration has rendered it obsolete. Orbán has been a vocal critic of military aid to Kiev, and for nearly two years he has single-handedly blocked its disbursement through a €6.6 billion EU common fund. He has twice threatened to thwart the extension of EU sanctions against Russia and only backed down at the last minute.
Officials and diplomats in Brussels got used to Budapest's resistance and resorted to the "dump" format to allow the G20 to keep the ambitious text, instead of leaning towards a watered-down version that Orbán would be willing to tolerate.
The text approved Thursday welcomes Trump's diplomatic overreach and "calls on Russia to show real political will to end the war", raising the spectre of new sanctions as a way of "ratcheting up the pressure" on the Kremlin. The G20 also pledges to support "Ukraine's reform efforts on its path to EU membership", a goal that Orbán has slowed down with his veto.
Volodymyr Zelensky during his virtual speech to EU leaders, he lamely attacked Hungary for its obstruction. "It is unfortunate to say this, but some pressure is needed within Europe itself to ensure that whatever is promised - actually happens," Zelensky said on Thursday. "It is simply anti-European for one person to block decisions that are important for the whole continent or that have already been agreed. Also, European efforts that should bring more security and peace are constantly blocked. And I think that is wrong," He added.
Putin's demand for a complete halt to military aid was rejected by Trump, who after a phone call with Zelensky promised to help Ukraine find additional air defence systems to protect civilian infrastructure, "especially in Europe".
euronews/ gnews.cz - RoZ
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