European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday the West must provide more military aid to Ukraine and speed up its deliveries. “Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians have a lot of applause and not enough ammunition,” he said in his speech.
“They need to be less applauded and better supplied with arms,” he pointed out.
🔴 Live now: #MSC2023 | Panel Discussion
"Back to the Future? Visions for the European Security Architecture"
Speakers: @JosepBorrellF, @Bujar_O, @SwedishPM, and @kajakallas, moderated by @NathalieToccihttps://t.co/qdK4fQgTgs
— Munich Security Conference (@MunSecConf) February 19, 2023
Borrell also expressed his support for the earlier Estonian proposal for the EU to buy ammunition on behalf of its members to help Ukraine.
Russian threat must be taken ‘seriously’
Speaking on the same panel, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas urged the West to take the Russian strongman Vladimir Putin “seriously”.
“In 1925, nobody believed Hitler but he was quite open about these goals. And in 2007, Putin… was very clear about these goals [during his speech in Munich],” she said.
My message on #MSC2023 final day:
Grey areas trigger conflicts.
Ukraine’s post-war Euro-Atlantic integration is necessary for the security of Europe.
NATO is the ultimate security guarantee for lasting peace in Europe.
1/ pic.twitter.com/VsLbAdXKCr
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) February 19, 2023
“The problem was that nobody believed him, but let’s believe him now,” said Kallas, whose country borders Russia.
The prime minister also pointed out that her country is currently earmarking more than 1 percent of its GDP to help Ukraine, saying that despite being a small country, Estonia does ot hesitate to share.
Ukraine reiterates appeal for jets
Ukrainian officials have urged U.S. Congress members to press President Joe Biden’s administration to send F-16 jetfighters to Kyiv, saying the aircraft would boost their country’s ability to hit Russian missile units with U.S.-made rockets, lawmakers said.
The lobbying came over the weekend on the sidelines of the Munich conference in talks between Ukrainian officials, including Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and House of Representatives.
“They told us that they want [F-16s] to suppress enemy air defenses so they could get their drones” beyond Russian front lines, Senator Mark Kelly, a former astronaut who flew U.S. Navy fighters in combat, told Reuters.
Biden administration officials, speaking on Sunday, said the United States should focus on providing weapons that can be used immediately on the battlefield, rather than fighter jets that require extensive training.
Ukraine, China discuss territorial integrity
At the backstage of the conference, the heads of diplomacy of Ukraine and China, Dmytro Kuleba and Wang Yi, respectively, held talks regarding, among other things, peace initiatives for Ukraine that “should be based on the principle of territorial integrity”, Kuleba reported.
I appreciate the opportunity to exchange views with State Councilor Wang Yi. We agree that the fundamental UN Charter principle of territorial integrity is sacred for both of our states. I reiterated that all initiatives aimed at restoring peace in Ukraine need to be based on it. pic.twitter.com/YfoXkNihyg
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 18, 2023
“We agree that the fundamental U.N. Charter principle of territorial integrity is sacred for both of our states. I reiterated that all initiatives aimed at restoring peace in Ukraine need to be based on it,” h wrote on social media.