On Friday 29 August, the High Representative of the European Union, Kaja Kallas, suggested that the funds from the European Peace Facility (EPF) earmarked for Ukraine - €6.6 billion - which have been blocked for several years by Hungary, could be used for NATO’s PURL (Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List) initiative, which supports the shipment of US lethal weapons to Ukraine with funding from other Allies.
“We must continue to step up [our support for Ukraine]. The European Peace Facility can provide funding to support this effort. It can reimburse member states for weapons purchase for Ukraine, including for supporting NATO’s PURL initiative. The continued blocking of the EPF is therefore not justified. Resolving this swiftly is important for the work between Europe and the United States to support Ukraine”, stressed Ms Kallas at the end of the informal meeting of European defence ministers in Copenhagen.
So far, the solutions presented to the Hungarians have not met with their approval, but this time, according to Ms Kallas, things could be different. Pointing out that Hungary often refers to US President Donald Trump’s peace efforts, she considered that this PURL initiative was part of that effort.
On his arrival at the informal meeting, the Belgian Defence Minister, Theo Francken, announced that his country would provide Ukraine with an additional €100 million in aid in 2025 under PURL, and his Lithuanian counterpart, Dovilė Šakalienė, explained that his country would contribute to the acquisition of Patriot systems for Kyiv.
From the south of France, the leaders of France and Germany also announced, in a joint statement, that their countries would provide Kyiv with additional air defence and would urge their allies and partners to do likewise. They also promised to increase purchases of defence goods produced in Ukraine to meet the needs of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Support for the Danish model. In addition to direct military support, several delegations, according to different sources, stressed the need to develop the Danish model. This model consists of direct financing of Ukrainian defence companies and is also evolving towards the creation of Ukrainian defence industries in the EU.
“Too few countries are contributing significantly to the development of Ukrainian industry. Denmark has shown the way with an excellent model that enjoys strong international support. What we lack is more funding”, complained the Danish minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, on his arrival. “The Danish model has proved very useful. It seems that the Ukrainian defence industry can absorb billions of euros, which would also be a good way of increasing European support for the Ukrainians, which they will need for some time”, added his Swedish counterpart, Pål Jonson.
Ukrainian industry currently has $17 billion of unused production capacity out of a total capacity of $40 billion.
Broad support for the deployment of EUMAM in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. The ministers also discussed the security guarantees that the EU could provide to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. These include the EU training mission EUMAM Ukraine, which could be deployed on Ukrainian soil (see EUROPE 13521/5).
According to the High Representative, the extension of the mission’s mandate to provide training and advice in Ukraine after any truce has received “broad support” from the Member States.
“We are the largest provider of training to Ukraine’s military. We have trained over 80,000 soldiers so far and we must be ready to do more. This could include placing EU trainers in Ukraine and military academies and institutions”, explained Ms Kallas. However, according to sources, while no Member State was firmly opposed to amending the mandate, some delegations stressed the sensitivity of the issue.
The High Representative acknowledged that not all Member States were in agreement on how to proceed. “Some say we should do it after [a ceasefire], but we can also do it conditionally, so that we already agree on how we modify the mandate, so that it is conditional on the ceasefire or truce coming into force, at the time when it is really necessary”.
Several ministers have publicly given their support to this possibility. “I think it's a good thing [to amend the mandate], because it opens up a wider range of options”, explained the Dutch minister, Ruben Brekelmans, while specifying that the decision to allow training in Ukraine and the decision to participate as a country were separate issues.
The Baltic ministers stressed that the countries would be prepared to take part in training in Ukraine. According to Estonian Hanno Pevkur, “Ukraine first needs to prepare for this. It’s not just about sending people. This is a large-scale logistical and security operation. Even if there is a ceasefire, you never know when Russia will break it”, he explained.
For their part, the coalition of the willing is due to hold further talks at the end of next week on the security guarantees they could provide to Ukraine.
Step up the pressure on Moscow. Several ministers and Ms Kallas also spoke of the need to step up pressure on Russia.
In a statement issued by the High Representative and supported by 26 Member States - apart from Hungary - the EU condemned the attack on Ukraine on the night of 27-28 August, which left at least 23 people dead and damaged the buildings of the EU delegation in Kyiv. “We strongly condemn Russia’s ongoing assaults on civilians and civilian infrastructure, which are a deliberate escalation and undermine efforts toward peace”, stressed Ms Kallas.
“These crimes only reinforce our determination and resolve to support Ukraine and its people in their defence against Russia and their pursuit of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace”, she explained, warning that the EU would continue and strengthen its overall support for Ukraine on all fronts, “including by accelerating work on the 19th package of sanctions”. The new package is due to be presented in early September.
Pressure on Russia will be discussed this Saturday 30 August by the European foreign ministers, who are also meeting informally in Copenhagen. “Several options are on the table. Of course, what will hurt [Russia] the most are the energy sanctions and all the secondary sanctions imposed by the Americans, for example. But also sanctions on financial services, which considerably hamper their access to much-needed capital”, explained Ms Kallas.
In a discussion paper, the Danish Presidency of the EU Council highlights sanctions, the anti-circumvention tool, the ‘shadow fleet’ and customs tariffs on trade with Russia.
In particular, it believes that new measures on Russia’s oil and gas export revenues as well as the financial sector - including cryptocurrencies, their intermediaries and infrastructure - could have a significant negative effect on Moscow. The Presidency also wonders whether the Europeans are ready to use the anti-circumvention tool agreed in the 11th sanctions package, which allows certain exports to be banned to third countries deemed to present a particularly high risk of continued circumvention of measures against Russia.
In their joint communiqué, France and Germany announced that they would intensify their cooperation within the EU and with their partners, notably the G7, in order to extend and develop effective and robust sanctions.
See the High Representative’s statement on the attack of 27 August: https://aeur.eu/f/i7c
See the Franco-German declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/i7e (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Mathieu Bion)