Ukraine: remarks by High Representative / Vice-President Kaja Kallas at the joint press conference

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Thank you. Good day, everybody.

Minister Sybiha, dear Andrii, it is good to be back in Kyiv, and thank you for the warm welcome.

Ukraine has our full backing. This year, the European Union is providing record levels of military support to Ukraine. EU sanctions have already deprived Russia of hundreds of billions of euros to fund its war.

We will soon adopt new measures targeting Russia's energy, finance and trade revenues. Russia's war economy is already weak. We will make it weaker.

Inflation exceeds 20%, cash reserves are depleted, and growth is close to zero. Maybe time was once on Russia's side, but it is shifting to Ukraine now. Every euro we take from Russia is a euro it cannot spend on the war.

On the battlefield, as President Trump said, Ukraine can turn the tables on Russia. Russia's summer offensive has failed. Its minimal territorial gains come with the huge Russian casualties and cost. This is down to the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers and European and NATO support.

Russia now seeks to offset battlefield setbacks with terror attacks against civilian and Ukrainian energy infrastructure. The European Union has already mobilised €800 million to support Ukraine this winter. We are working on an extra €100 million for generators, shelters and cold weather gear. As Minister Sybiha and I discussed, Russia has dashed any hope of quick peace, so we are planning for the long haul.

The European Union is scaling up Ukraine's combat power with €2 billion for drones. We will also expand the mandate of the EU civilian mission in Ukraine to cover cyber defence and veteran support. As the Russian war drags on, we must make use of every avenue to financially support Ukraine.

EU leaders are discussing a reparations loan underpinned by Russian frozen assets. We need to press on with this proposal, turning frozen Russian funds into frontline support for Ukraine is the right thing to do. Moscow should bear the cost of this war, not European taxpayers.

Then, on accountability, like Minister Sybiha already mentioned, I can also today announce the first €10 million to set up the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression. Like Minister Sybiha mentioned, in May, we had a meeting with the Foreign Ministers in Lviv to really get this Tribunal started.

Russia's leaders are responsible for this war. There wouldn't be any war crimes if there would not be the crime of aggression - so there would not be any atrocities either. Nobody should be left unpunished for crimes committed.

The forced deportation of children and rape are among the darkest chapters of Russia's war. Today, we are giving another €6 million to support the care of children that are deported by Russia and survivors of sexual violence. This can help ensure the victims of these crimes receive the care they need.

And finally, also on European defence. Europe faces an extraordinary surge of hybrid attacks. Every time a Russian drone or plane violates our airspace, there is a risk of escalation, unintended or not. Russia is gambling with war, and we are moving beyond the realms of hypothetical conflict. To keep war at bay, we must translate the economic power of Europe into military deterrence.

This week, President von der Leyen and I will present a roadmap for European defence. This will define the capability objectives and milestones for key areas like anti drone systems. It is clear that we need to toughen our defence against Russia. Not to provoke war, but the opposite, to prevent war. This will be the playbook for how to do that, and also it has to be in full alignment with NATO.

So, Minister Sybiha, dear Andrii, thank you again for hosting us. Thank you for putting up a really strong programme together for us here. The Ukrainian people are inspiration for us all, and you can always count on our support.

Thank you.

Q&A.

Q. The European Union has made it clear that it plans to learn from Ukraine when it comes to the drone wall portion of the defence roadmap. I wonder if you could talk a little bit, HR/VP Kallas, about sort of what that actually practically looks like. How does that play out? How do you learn from Ukraine, and what are the practical steps to making that reality?

Thank you for that question. We have a lot to learn from Ukraine. This is true. We got the very good presentation also from Ukrainians regarding the drone defence and how this anti-drone systems should really look like, what kind of elements we need. We need, first, sensors. We need anti-drone systems. We need also the interceptors. So, it is clear what we need. In order to put it up, we also need funding. That is very clear. And I think we can also cooperate very much with the Ukraine defence industry, because what the Ukraine defence industry has found is really to bring the procurement times as well as the procurement costs down. Together, we can make it happen. And considering the technology, then it shouldn't take years, but it is actually quite much easier to put up. I think what the lessons from Ukraine are, is actually to fight the drones that are coming with lesser means than missiles. So, clearly this understanding is there. What we need to do now is we have to find the funding and really move on with the project.

Q. As you already mentioned, the reparation loan. We know that G7 Finance Ministers are going to meet this week. Can we expect some possible decisions on this question? How long could it take on the reparation loans?

On the reparations loan, the work is ongoing. Of course, we want to move fast in this, but we have 27 Member States with different worries, so the work is ongoing. There are, I think, two tracks. One is to set it up, so that it would be legally sound, and also the risks are covered when it comes to certain Member States that have bigger risks than others. And the other track is what this reparations loan could be used [for] and when and how. So, I cannot give you a concrete date, as we are very intensively working on this, but I am happy that we see some movement on the overall discussions when it comes to the reparations and frozen assets.

Q. Madame High Representative, you mentioned that the EU will announce a defence roadmap, but I want to ask you how personally you view the new architecture of security in Europe, given that Russia persists in its hybrid war against you, and its persistent attack on civilian infrastructure. And also, what does the EU think about the possible Tomahawk missile delivery to Ukraine? Does the EU support it, welcomes it, and will assist in delivery?

The defence roadmap will have very concrete milestones in key capability areas, how we move to the targets to be really ready by 2030. And this is because we see Russia has not changed its goals regarding rewriting the security architecture of Europe. You correctly mentioned the intensified hybrid attacks that they have against also European countries, whether it's a violation of airspace or it is cyber-attacks, or attacks or sabotage of another sort. And that means that they are really playing with fire, and they are really escalating here. That is why we need to be stronger, and we need to be ready when it comes to our own defence. And to your third question, we welcome all the tools that make Ukraine stronger and Russia weaker.

Thank you.

Watch the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/media/video/I-27847