"Less words": EU increases and accelerates assistance to Ukraine (video)

Realizing how important it is to quickly increase assistance to Ukraine, the head of the European Council states that now it is not a matter of months, but of days or weeks.

European countries at the summit EU promise air defense systems, writes D.W. Against the backdrop of massive Russian attacks The EU will increase humanitarian aid and civil defense support for the cities and critical infrastructure of Ukraine: among other things, electric generators and power transformers will be supplied.

The EU statement also speaks of the need to urgently provide Ukraine with air defense systems and intensify the delivery of necessary military assistance, including artillery shells and missiles. Leaders of states and governments called for the necessary steps to be taken at the ministerial level of individual countries. The meeting of the heads of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of European countries will be held on April 22.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said at a briefing with journalists: “We don’t need so many words, we need more military equipment – they do!” According to him, new supplies of weapons and ammunition to Kyiv are “not a matter of months, but of days and weeks.”

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on the summit participants to provide Ukraine with air defense systems as quickly as possible:

“Everyone needs to look at their stockpiles to see if they can spare any more air defense systems, especially Patriots, because they are so urgently needed in this particular situation. Russia's war of aggression continues with particular brutality, and we know: to support Ukraine, we must do more than we have done so far.”

Berlin yesterday announced its intention to transfer the third Patriot air defense system to Kyiv. Taking into account the existing air defense systems, Kyiv does not exclude the threat of Russian attacks not only on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, but also on other nuclear power plants. President Vladimir Zelensky pointed this out when addressing the European Council via video link:

“This can only be stopped by air defense – special systems such as Patriot, IRIS-T, SAMP-T, NASAMS… The systems that you have. Ukraine needs them right now – they need them to stop Putin from using terrorist methods. For your safety as well.”

Zelensky also noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have still not received the promised million artillery shells from the EU, and several other initiatives have not been fully implemented:

“This primarily affects what our soldiers can use at the front and what they, unfortunately, still have to wait for. I ask you to speed up the implementation of our agreements with you – both on the supply and joint production of weapons and ammunition, and on financing the necessary projects.”

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, speaking to reporters, noted:

“Looking at how every day and every night Russia bombs Ukraine, killing civilians and destroying its infrastructure, it is very unfortunate to see that we make decisions, but do not implement them. We need to rejoice not at the decisions on arms supplies to Kiev, but at the supplies themselves, when they are timely. Because sometimes the time gap between making a decision and its implementation takes several months or even more.”

Charles Michel told reporters that EU countries are united in their readiness to both help Ukraine and look for opportunities for a just world. Therefore, the leaders discussed the implementation of Vladimir Zelensky’s peace plan and the conference planned for June in Switzerland on resolving the armed conflict in Ukraine, in which the European Union will also participate. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated:

“Now we need full support from Ukraine so that the Russian Federation understands that the EU alliance will not give up. On the other hand, in my opinion, with full support, it is important to think about the possibilities of peace and a ceasefire. We need a framework that will allow us to talk about this in principle. Now we are not even in the realm of dialogue between the parties to the conflict. To achieve this, we need different allies.”

According to Nehammer, progress in this can be achieved with the help of partners outside Europe, for example, in the BRICS countries, “which maintain good relations with the Russian Federation.”

In the final statement, the European Council welcomed progress in transferring proceeds from frozen assets of the Russian Federation to Ukraine and called for the speedy adoption of the European Commission's proposal on their use. The President of Ukraine in his address asked to use the assets themselves “to protect people’s lives from Russian terror.” He also asked Brussels to make every effort to convince Washington to provide Kyiv with more assistance, including financial assistance. Voting in the US Congress to allocate $60 billion to Ukraine planned on April 20.

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