Foreign Affairs Council (Defence): Press conference by High Representative Kaja Kallas

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Good afternoon.

Good to see you again. We just concluded a meeting of the Defence Ministers, which began this morning with the European Defence Agency's (EDA) Steering Bboard. Following from the tasking that we got from the European leaders, Ministers today agreed to strengthen the EDA with the dedicated structures for innovation and experimentation. Work will continue to strengthen the Agency even further, also on joint procurement. Ukraine's experience shows how quickly modern warfare evolves, and the lessons learned must shape our policy decisions. Defence innovation has to become a political priority.

Then, we discussed Ukraine. We had Minister Fedorov joining us, and also NATO Deputy Secretary General Šekerinska. Ukraine will receive the first disbursement of the €90 billion loan already in June, and these funds will go directly to drones, which are the key capability in pushing back Russian forces at the moment. At the same time, it is clear that although the €90 billion loan is there, the bilateral support must continue. The same goes for more sanctions, more pressure on Russia.

Ministers discussed also the €6.6 billion that is blocked in the EPF, and there was a strong support to find solutions to mobilise these funds. We will come up with proposals in this regard, because of course Member States have different ideas how to mobilise it, and then we need to have a balanced approach to take that all into account.

We are also advancing our work on the EU security guarantees to Ukraine when the truce is there. This includes strengthening the EU Satellite Centre, so it could also provide support for the ceasefire monitoring, track Russia's shadow fleet and help prevent sanctions' circumvention. But it is also clear that we need it for Europe ourselves to strengthen this capability. Ministers also discussed the modernisation of the two training centres for Ukrainian military, and I thank those Member States who have already contributed with funding for this.

Then, turning to the Middle East, the Strait of Hormuz is caught in grey zone between war and peace. We support all diplomatic initiatives to have a way out and prevent further escalation.

Closure of the world's most important shipping lane is untenable. EU naval operations in the region can play a vital role in restoring energy and trade flows. Operation ASPIDES already makes a crucial contribution in protecting the shipping in the Red Sea, but its activities could also be extended to the Strait. It only requires the change of the operational plan, because the mandate already allows this. Of course, this is when the conditions are appropriate. And this is a discussion we will continue shortly after this press conference, when we have the meeting hosted by the UK and France on the Coalition of the Willing.

On Lebanon, we discussed also what more can we do there. Europe is doing its part to mitigate the crisis. Thousands of European troops serve part of UNIFIL. We have also supported the Lebanese Armed Forces with €100 million, but it is clear that when UNIFIL's mandate ends, then there needs to be also something in addition and the Ministers were discussing how that could be. We are currently looking into a new EU mission to help strengthen state control in Lebanon. The stronger we make the Lebanese army, the weaker we make Hezbollah.

And, finally, we had a discussion on the defence readiness. Russia is gearing up for long-term confrontation with the West. Tanks and missiles are pretty much the only thing that Russia's economy is producing right now. Whether Putin dares to test European defences is really dependent on us. Deterrence works if it is credible; showing weakness only invites aggression.

Member States have put a lot of funding on the table, but defence industry production in Europe is still not ramped up. So, we need faster arms reduction, also cheaper and rapid delivery to close those capability gaps. We also had the defence industry representatives present, so we were able to discuss with them as well. Ministers stressed that the industry needs to deliver in time and with volume, and also the industry representatives were then explaining what is hindering them from ramping up. And then we had a discussion of the next steps, how to speed up this effort.

With that, I take your questions. Thank you.