Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson called for increased support for Ukraine, including through a reparations credit funded by frozen Russian assets, and for the introduction of additional sanctions against Russia.
He made these remarks to journalists ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in the format of defense ministers on Monday in Brussels.
“On today’s agenda, in my view, the most important issue is continued support for Ukraine… Russia did not achieve its strategic goal of capturing the entire Donbas this summer. But what is now crucial is that we strengthen support for Ukraine. We… believe that it is also time to use a reparations credit to support Ukraine,” Jonson said.
According to him, Sweden advocates providing Ukraine with a reparations credit, “because Ukrainians need financial resources to continue the fight they are conducting excellently and very bravely.”
At the same time, the Swedish minister emphasized that Ukrainians themselves should determine how to use these funds:
“This is absolutely critical.”
Jonson stressed that achieving peace requires increasing support for Ukraine and strengthening sanctions against Russia.
“The path to peace in Ukraine goes through stronger sanctions against Russia and increased support for Ukraine. Sweden is one of the few countries that has increased support for Ukraine every year since the start of this terrible war. All of this is so that Ukrainians can negotiate from a position of strength. This is extremely important,” he said.
Regarding European participation in U.S.-initiated negotiations on a peaceful resolution to the Russian-Ukrainian war, Jonson noted that there can be “nothing about Europeans without Europeans.”
“And we, of course, will play a central role in Ukraine’s reconstruction. The more we are involved, the better peace agreement we can achieve,” he added.
