The European Union must continue helping Ukraine stand firm in its fight against Russian aggression for the sake of its own security, because Ukraine is currently Europe’s “first line of defense.”
This was stated on Wednesday, June 18, in Strasbourg during a plenary session of the European Parliament dedicated to preparations for the NATO summit in The Hague by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas.
“Regarding support for Ukraine — the European Union is doing its part in this. Not least because Ukraine is Europe’s first line of defense… We must do more for Ukraine, for our own security as well,” Kallas emphasized.
She quoted NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who previously said that if Alliance members do not continue helping Ukraine, they will all have to start learning Russian.
“We know that Russia responds only to strength and nothing else. That is why we have just proposed the 18th package of sanctions to increase pressure. Each such sanction weakens Russia’s ability to wage this war. Let’s not allow ourselves to be fooled: sanctions really do work. Thanks to European sanctions, Russia has lost tens of billions of dollars in oil trade revenues; its sovereign wealth fund decreased by 6 billion just last month,” the EU High Representative stressed.
At the same time, she reminded that today the European Union is the largest provider of aid to Ukraine, including over 50 billion euros in military assistance.
“The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield today, the stronger it will be at the negotiating table when Russia is finally ready to talk,” Kallas concluded.
