The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is convinced that it is in Europe’s interest to do everything possible to strengthen Ukraine’s position in order to achieve peace, and outlined three priorities.
Speaking on Wednesday in Strasbourg during a plenary session of the European Parliament, the President of the European Commission said,
"A just and lasting peace could launch a new era of prosperity for Ukraine and help us build a new security architecture in Europe. A just and lasting peace that would guarantee Ukraine’s sovereignty, respect its territorial integrity, and support its European aspirations. This is the crossroads at which we stand, and Europe has a huge stake in this, so we must do everything we can to strengthen Ukraine’s position. Because we’ve all seen how Russia negotiates. They bomb, intimidate, hide promises under rubble. Putin wants to force Ukraine to accept the unacceptable. So, the task before us is to help Ukraine remain strong, not to succumb to Putin’s intimidation, and to begin peace talks on its own terms."
In this regard, von der Leyen outlined three priorities for action on how "we can do this":
"First, support Ukraine’s defense. Second, complete the gradual phase-out of Russian fossil fuels. And third, accelerate Ukraine’s path to joining our Union," she listed.
On the first point, the President of the European Commission noted the so-called "porcupine strategy."
"Russia is a constant threat to all of Europe. Therefore, Ukraine must be strong enough to deter any future attack through counter-dissuasion," von der Leyen explained.
She reminded that Europe has already supported Ukraine with military aid totaling €50 billion.
"But now, we must shift from a logic of aid to a logic of integrating our defense industries. And this is a central element of our White Paper on 'Readiness by 2030'. We urge our member states to place orders directly with Ukraine’s defense industry, as this is the most effective and cost-efficient way to support Ukraine’s military efforts," the President of the European Commission elaborated.
In particular, she said that the key elements in this aspect are defense technologies and innovations.
"While supporting Ukraine, we must also continue to undermine Russia’s ability to wage war. This is my second point. Fossil fuel revenues remain the key source of financing for the Russian military machine," von der Leyen continued.
In this regard, she cited relevant figures. At the beginning of the war, the EU was spending €12 billion per month on Russian fossil fuels.
"Today, we are spending only €1.8 billion per month. So, our main security interest is to stop financing Putin’s military budget. And for that, we must stop spending billions on importing Russian energy," she emphasized.
The President of the European Commission provided detailed information to Members of the European Parliament about measures proposed on Tuesday aimed at completely phasing out Russian energy sources. Among them, she specifically mentioned a ban on new contracts with Russia, including a ban on spot market imports no later than the end of 2025, and a ban on all imports of Russian gas, both pipeline and LNG, no later than the end of 2027.
"And we will also strengthen control over Russia’s shadow fleet. So, to make it crystal clear, the era of Russian fossil fuels in Europe is coming to an end," she assured.
These words were met with applause from the Members of the European Parliament.
The third priority von der Leyen mentioned was accelerating Ukraine’s accession to the EU, which will be "the strongest security guarantee."
