EU Defence Ministers Discuss Ukraine Aid and European Protection
At the EU Council meeting in Brussels on 20 May, EU defence ministers are talking about increasing assistance to Ukraine and strengthening Europe's defence capabilities, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in comments to the media before the meeting.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to European Pravda.
In the morning, the EU Defence Council met in Brussels, and in the afternoon, foreign ministers will meet.
Pistorius noted that the key topics of the meeting are assistance to Ukraine ‘in view of recent events’ and strengthening the defence capabilities of European countries.
"I am deeply convinced that it is more important than ever to provide Ukraine with sustainable and active support. Today we will discuss what concrete steps we will take and - this will be the second part of the discussion - how we can strengthen European defence capabilities," said Pistorius.
‘The most important point of the consultations will be the initiative of the EU High Representative to provide Ukraine with 2 million artillery shells this year, and I can say that Germany will play a significant role in this,’ he added.
Regarding defence capabilities, Pistorius said that European countries should focus on quickly addressing the biggest gaps in their armed forces' capabilities and move from a ‘one man band’ approach to joint action and a common assessment of resources.
"Only then will we be able to truly organise training, maintenance, ammunition production, and logistics together. And everyone knows that if you combine resources and make decisions together, you can do more for the same money than if you are on your own," he said.
‘Our proposal is that countries should take responsibility in areas where they are experts... Germany is ready to do this not only in the field of air defence, but also in land and sea systems,’ Pistorius said.
Pistorius also commented on US President Donald Trump's conversation with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, which, in his opinion, demonstrated that Russia is not ready to make any concessions.
Sources told the Financial Times that European leaders with whom Trump spoke after his conversation with Putin were ‘unpleasantly surprised’ by Trump's description of the outcome of his call.
As The Gaze reported earlier, at the first UK-EU summit in London on 19 May, the UK and the EU reaffirmed their strong condemnation of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and reiterated their firm and unwavering support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.