Brussels, 18/12/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Council discussed the situation in Ukraine and the EU's strategy towards Russia over dinner on Thursday 18 December.
“We're not going to find a long-term solution in Ukraine without an adequate, coherent and unified European strategy towards Russia. A modern, independent Ukraine in security is most important in this strategy”, said European Council President Donald Tusk. He stated that there was need for more than a single immediate response to this “very dramatic and very dynamic” situation. “When we speak about the future of Ukraine, in fact we are speaking about our future”, he said, also underlining that when the EU discussed Russia and Ukraine it discussed what the meaning of the EU was. The leaders will return to this burning issue in March, Tusk announced.
In their conclusions, the European leaders reiterated their concern about the situation in Eastern Ukraine. “All parties, including Russia, should actively engage in and implement fully the Minsk agreements”, they said. “For a few days now, the first point - the ceasefire - has been respected. It must be lasting. A demarcation line is needed, a meeting of the contact group (…) If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants to assure Ukraine's territorial integrity, he must be taken at his word”, said Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel. France's President François Hollande believed that from the Russian side there was “a resolve to move towards a withdrawal of arms, the pressure that Putin seems to put on the separatists, then the resolve to implement the Minsk agreement”. High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini was harsher. “Putin and the Russian leadership should reflect seriously on the need to introduce changes of attitude towards the rest of the world and to move to a cooperative mode”, she said when she arrived at the summit.
The European Council also noted that the policy of not recognising the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol had been strengthened (see other article). “The EU will stay the course”, it stated, adding that it was ready to take further steps if necessary.
The 28 EU member states also congratulated Ukraine on its new government and hailed its determination to make political and economic reforms. The Ukrainian government's adoption and establishment of reforms is one of the EU's priorities. “We want to continue helping Ukraine on condition that it undertakes economic reforms and combats against corruption”, said Merkel.
Recalling the European Commission's second disbursement in December of €500 million in macro-financial assistance, the leaders stated that the EU and its member states were ready to further facilitate and support Ukraine's reform process, “together with other donors and in line with IMF conditionality”. The leaders did not, however, enter into detail. “We did not speak about concrete aid to Ukraine”, said Merkel. Financing this aid could nevertheless pose a problem. In a speech to the European Parliament, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he believed that the member states should put their hands in their pocket because the EU budget could not do this alone. A French diplomat believed it was up to the EU to finance the additional aid.
The heads of state and government also welcomed the fact that the Commission is ready to increase its humanitarian aid to “the suffering people in Ukraine”. Once again they called for unhindered access to the crash site of flight MH17 in the interest of the ongoing investigations. (CG with AN, EH, JK)