On Tuesday 23 September, US President Donald Trump announced that “Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form”.
“With time, patience, and the financial support of Europe and, in particular, NATO, the original Borders from where this War started, is very much an option”, he added on his social network Social Truth, describing Russia as a “paper tiger”.
Trump promised that the US would continue to supply NATO with weapons “to do what they want with them”. NATO has set up the PURL process, which enables the Allies to finance American military equipment for Ukraine.
“Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act”, insisted Mr Trump, stating that “in any event, I wish both Countries well”.
For his part, in a speech to the United Nations Security Council on Ukraine, the President of the European Council, António Costa, once again called on Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, “to agree to come to the negotiation table. To stop the killings. To stop the destruction. To stop threatening its neighbouring countries”. He added that the quest for peace should be the international community’s top priority, calling on it to actively engage in peace efforts, in full respect of the United Nations Charter. Mr Costa hoped that China, another permanent member of the Security Council, would contribute to a “just and lasting” peace in Ukraine.
For their part, the foreign ministers of the G7 countries (Germany, France, Italy, Canada, the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom) and the EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, emphasised their “continuing commitment to work together for a lasting peace and a strong, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, by continuing (their) coordination with the United States to provide Ukraine with solid and credible security guarantees”.
Strengthening sanctions. They also discussed the possibility of “imposing new economic costs” on Russia, notably by taking measures against “complicit” third countries, and welcomed the ongoing discussions between G7 finance ministers on the need to mobilise more Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine.
On the sidelines of these meetings, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that she had agreed, during a meeting with Mr Trump, on “the need to cut Russia’s revenues from fossil fuels, and fast”. The US President has criticised Europe’s continued purchase of Russian energy, and the European Commission is once again tackling the issue as part of its 19th sanctions package (see EUROPE 13713/1).
“We tighten the pressure, banning imports of Russian LNG into European markets and targeting refineries, oil traders and refineries in third countries. By 2027, Europe will have turned the page on Russian fossil fuels for good”, said Ms von der Leyen.
Adopting these measures, which require unanimity, promises to be difficult. In an interview with the Guardian, the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, warned that his country would continue to be supplied with Russian energy.
“We can’t ensure the safe supply (of energy products) for our country without Russian oil or gas sources”, he explained. He added: “It can be nice to dream about buying oil and gas from somewhere (besides Russia) … but we can only buy from where we have infrastructure”.
The European Commission also announced that it would be proposing customs tariffs on Russian oil, which continues to arrive on the European market, “in due course”.
Bringing Ukrainian children home. The President of the Commission also explained that the EU and the United States would be working “hand in hand” to bring back missing children to Ukraine.
At an event earlier in the day, Ms von der Leyen explained that the EU was joining the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children and that it would be “honoured” to host a high-level international summit “to put these children at the top of the global agenda” (see EUROPE 13706/2).
She pointed out that the EU had already imposed sanctions on around fifty people complicit in the abduction of Ukrainian children. As part of the 19th sanctions package, the EU High Representative has proposed sanctioning additional individuals. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)