EU Calls on Russia to Demonstrate Genuine Will to End War
Following the summit in Brussels, the European Council adopted an official statement on the war in Ukraine. In particular, it states that Russia must demonstrate a real desire to end the war it has unleashed against Ukraine.
This is stated on the Council's website.
The appeal was supported by 26 EU member states. At the same time, Hungary refused to sign the conclusions of the EU summit concerning Ukraine, which is why the section of the conclusions on Ukraine was published as a separate document.
‘The European Council calls on Russia to show real political will to end the war,’ the statement said.
The EU leaders also welcomed the joint statement by Ukraine and the United States following the meeting in Saudi Arabia, which contains proposals for a ceasefire and also indicates the resumption of intelligence sharing and security support from the United States.
The 26 EU heads of state stressed that the path to peace should include humanitarian aid, the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilians and the return of all abducted Ukrainian children.
The EU expressed its readiness to increase pressure on Russia, in particular through new sanctions and strengthening of enforcement mechanisms.
It was emphasised that frozen Russian assets should remain blocked until Russia ends its war against Ukraine and compensates for the damage it has caused.
The EU leaders expressed their readiness to support the peace process and contribute to achieving ‘a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine, which would be in the interests of both Ukraine and Europe as a whole’.
The statement also indicated the continued provision of regular financial and military assistance to Ukraine.
The statement also emphasises the need to bring to justice those responsible for war crimes and notes the importance of establishing a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, at a meeting of the European Council on 20 March, a number of EU leaders called for speeding up negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.
As The Gaze reported, Ukraine received another €1 billion from the European Union under the ERA initiative. This tranche will be repaid from the proceeds of Russian state assets frozen in the EU.
The total amount of macro-financial assistance is €18.1 billion. This is the EU's contribution to the ERA lending initiative led by the Group of Seven, which provides a total of about €45 billion in financial support to Ukraine.
This disbursement will bring the total amount of loans provided by the European Commission to Ukraine under this programme since the beginning of the year to €4 billion.