Check against delivery! 

Dear Dmytro,  

First, I have to start [with] paying tribute to the innocent civilian Ukrainian people who have been killed overnight, some in Kyiv and in many other places around Ukraine, by another attack by Russian missiles. 

I, myself, and my team, we rushed to the shelter of the hotel as many thousands of Ukraine had to do once again – more than 40,000 times it has happened [since the start of the Russian aggression]. 

And I want to pay tribute to these innocent people, and to use this opportunity to say - and you know it - how Ukraine remains a priority for us.  

I do not remember how many times we have met, but I know that this is my sixth visit to Ukraine, and the fourth visit since the war started.  

You are coming to our [EU] Foreign Affairs Ministers [meetings] very often. Today, our schedule has been ruined by this attack that has delayed everything.  

So, in fact, what we are doing here is a kind of lively and open communication among us - and it is good. It is good that we can talk about all the issues that you have put on the table, because these are the things that really matter. 

Let me summarise something that I think it is important for the Ukrainian people to know. When I am saying that we have been supporting you, translated into figures it means that since the beginning of the war, until the last Christmas – the two first years of the war – the European Union has assisted Ukraine with €88 billion; part of them, €28 billion on military support. 

Certainly, we have to do more and quicker, but it is not an irrelevant figure. On the contrary, it represents an important effort. 

We have trained 40.000 soldiers in the military academies of several EU Member States. And a well-trained soldier is lifesaving. 40.000 Ukrainian soldiers have gone through our training centres. 

We agreed on creating the conditions to accelerate the delivery of ammunition and missiles. It is a work in progress. It is accelerating and by the end of the year, we will have donated to the Ukrainian armed forces 1,155 million ammunition. The dynamic is growing up. 

From March to the end of the year, the target is 631.000, but as I have been talking with the Prime Minister, you have to understand that the supplies are composed of donations and exports. Donations are for free, exports are through a commercial relationship. But if we add up both ways, the figure is much more important.  

And you are right, we have to make what you have suggested. The creation of a joint endeavour between your industry and our industry in order to create synergies and [for] you to be able to produce at home more. 

And you are right, and we are doing that. We are giving full priority to the supplies to Ukraine, delaying even the refilling of the stocks of our armies and re-routing the exports to third countries in order to fulfil the priority that Ukraine represents for our defence industry, that has increased its capacity by 40% since the beginning of the war. 

Because we Europeans, we were living in a peaceful world, and we believed that we could decrease our armies’ capacity because there was not a war on the horizon. 

And then suddenly, the war came - against you, but also against our security. And thanks for recalling that I am in charge not only of the [EU] Foreign policy, but also of the Security Policy. And the war against Ukraine is a threat to the security of the Europeans. And we have to behave in solidarity with you, not just to show solidarity with a friend, but [also] in our own interest.  

This is the thing that Europeans have to understand: that it is not just a matter of generosity, it is a matter of taking care of ourselves, because your security is our security. And this requires a pedagogical activity from the side of the political leaders of the European Union, that finally decided to approve this €50 billion more of civilian support. 

Because if you want to win the war, you have to win the peace. And you have to have a solid State, able to pay salaries, to pay pensions, to make the civil services work. To make the State work in the middle of the war, and this requires financial support as much as military support to win the war. 

By the end of the month, the budgetary authority of the European Union - which is the [European] Parliament and the Council [of the European Union], both together - will approve, definitely, the proposition done by the President of the [European] Commission [Ursula von der Leyen] and this will be immediately implemented.  

And I hope also that, by the end of the month, we will be able to reset the European Peace Facility in order to continue supporting you. Not by destocking the previous military capacity that we had before the war but to create new capacity, new orders, creating synergy between your industry and our industry.  

You, my dear Dmytro, talked also about the frozen assets of the Russian Central Bank. Yes, we are going step by step advancing in something that is full of logic. Russia has to pay for the destruction of Ukraine. Russia has to pay to rebuild Ukraine, and these frozen assets have to contribute to it. We have already agreed on identifying and keeping safe the revenues – the extraordinary revenues - that these assets have produced. And I am working hard in order to get an agreement to relocate these revenues to the European Union Budget and to be used to support Ukraine.   

But since you are the Foreign Affairs Minister, and me too, I am in charge of the Foreign Policy, let’s talk about how the rest of the world perceives this war.  

Yes, we have to make a bigger effort in order to increase the support for the Ukraine Peace Formula presented by President [of Ukraine, Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, which is the only proposal in town. 

The only serious proposal on the table to look for peace, in front of Russia who is saying that they do not know where their limits are. We have to get the support of the rest of the world for this future “Global Peace Summit” that has to take place immediately before the European elections. 

We have to work on the accountability in order to make Russians responsible for the crimes and atrocities committed against the Ukrainian people. On that, you can count on us. 

I said to the Prime Minister [Denys Shmyhal], and I use this opportunity to repeat [it] because I know that you know, that we are very much convinced that Ukraine has the capacity, the resilience and the will to overcome the invasion and to recover full sovereignty of its territory. 

For that you need the consensus of political forces. Unity is key for your victory.  

You know, Dmytro, that we have been committed and we will be committed to support Ukraine not “for as long as it takes” but for “whatever it takes”. Not as a measure of time, but as a measure of quantity, quality, and rapidity in supporting you, because you need this support right now, in the months to come. Not for “as long” or for “how much”, but for “whatever it takes”.  

This is my message of solidarity coming from the European Union, under the leadership of the two Presidents of the [European] Commission and the European Council [Charles Michel], and [we will] continue working with you in our very open meetings. 

Thank you for this opportunity of having this open discussion in front of the press. 

Q&A 

Q. You spoke about giving more ammunition, also now you repeated that, among the aid, are you thinking [about] something specific about drones? Because we know it is very crucial in this war. And then, you spoke again about Europe’s security which is at threat because of this war. Do you think now, after two years of the war, this danger has become bigger than at the beginning of the war for Europe? The threat has become bigger or not, or less big? And last question, you spoke about the delay in giving ammunition, in your social media also. You explained why there were problems, but how much has this delay had consequences on the “failure” or “almost failure” of the counteroffensive?  

On drones, you do not need help. I have been visiting some of your factories of drones, and I was really really surprised by the capacity of your engineers in order to create firms to produce drones of high quality in high numbers. And at the end of the war, Ukraine will be at the forefront of the new warfare. It is really amazing, and I think that this has to be very much taken into consideration. How a country can, from nothing, in one year, have this production capacity of the most sophisticated and efficient drones. I have to congratulate you for that. 

Is the threat from Russia more challenging today than two years ago? Well, the important thing is that we are very much aware. Two years ago, we had a 40% dependency on Russian gas - too much. Now, this dependency is zero. We cancelled this dependency because we were very much aware that Russia was not a reliable partner. And certainly today, people in Europe are very much aware that Russia represents a threat for them, not only for Ukraine. Maybe the threat was already the same two years ago, but the perception, the awareness is definitely acquired.  

And we have been talking with the Minister - not with you because I just arrived, with the Prime Minister - and we will continue talking with the Defence Minister [Rustem Umerov], about the ammunition supply. And I want to put that clearly in your mind. Supply is donations plus exports. Do not consider only the figure of donations because apart from that, there is another important flow of ammunition coming to Ukraine, through direct contracts.  

I know that that is not enough. I know, and that is why we are increasing our capacities, we are rerouting this production to give priority to Ukraine. And I can only say these figures of the concrete commitments by the end of the year, but for that we have to increase the production capacity and to make everybody push in this direction. It is not so easy, but we are delivering, and we will deliver much more in the immediate future. 

Q. Mr Borrell, “whatever it takes”, that is a big word. It was just mentioned that the United States is not getting that package through, Mr [Joe] Biden [President of the United States] is in the middle of a political campaign. Does that mean that the European Union would be also ready to jump in for that help that Ukraine is not getting from the United States – and will perhaps not get? 

Look, the United States have not said that the Europeans have not done their part because the figures I gave you - €88 billion of total support to Ukraine – is more than what the United States has done. Not on the military side, where certainly they have done more, but we have done €28 [billion]. But adding up everything, our support has been comparable if not bigger. And the first thing that we did when we approved this package of €50 billion, is to talk with the United States at the highest political level, saying: “Look, this is our commitment. Where is yours?”. Certainly, the United States and the European Union are ready – jointly – to continue supporting Ukraine. Do not ask me “what will you do in case the United States will do something?” I am not an astrolog. But what I can tell you is that we have to work together – European Union and United States. And we are permanently inviting our friends from the United States to come to the Foreign Affairs Council. There is going to be a next NATO meeting where Jake Sullivan [National Security Advisor of the United States] will attend in order to coordinate our efforts. I am strongly convinced that the United States has to continue supporting Ukraine whatever it takes.  

Link to the video (starting at 8:45): https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-252681 https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-252681