I went to Ukraine through Moldova, where I met President Maia Sandu. Moldova is for us a key partner in the region, confronted with a particularly difficult situation – the Russian army is still present in Transnistria, part of Moldova’s own territory. We discussed Moldova’s candidacy to the EU. We strongly support this endeavour and recognise the efforts already accomplished but quite a lot of work still has to be done, notably on the justice system and the fight against corruption. 

Bombing cultural heritage

We continued to Ukraine and the city of Odesa. Odesa is an important sea port on the Black Sea with a lot of cultural and historical heritage. It has been the target of numerous Russian missiles and drones attacks in recent months. I visited in particular the Transfiguration Cathedral, hit by Russian missiles last July. It was for sure a legitimate military target… 

The night before we went to Odesa, nine Russian drones also struck again the port. We went to the destroyed silos. By attacking Ukrainian ports, Russia wants to stop Ukraine’s grain exports, putting global food security in danger and driving up food prices worldwide. 

However, despite these bombings and the fact that Russia has put an end to the Black Sea Grain Initiative negotiated by the UN and Türkyie last July, ships are again leaving Ukrainian ports transporting grain for Africa and other regions in need, defying the Russian sea blockade. For our part, we have managed to help Ukraine export more than 50 million tons of grain so far through the land route via our EU Solidarity Lanes, and we will continue and amplify this effort. 

Targeting churches or ports exporting grain to hungry people around the world says a lot about the true nature of Russia’s so called “Special Military Operation"

Targeting churches or ports exporting grain to hungry people around the world says a lot about the true nature of Russia’s so called “Special Military Operation”. The recent attack targeting a café and a grocery store in the settlement of Hroza near Kharkiv, killing more than 50 people is unfortunately further proof of this. 

Honouring the men and women fighting for their country

On Sunday, I participated with President Zelenskyy in Kyiv to the Day of Defenders to honour the men and women who risk their lives, fighting for their country. We met the new Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov for the first time to discuss EU military support, and exchanged about the state of the rule of law and the fight against corruption in Ukraine with civil society representatives. 

An important highlight of this day was our visit to the Ukrainian Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security, supported by the EU. The war of aggression against Ukraine is not only fought with classical warfare, but also with the manipulation of information and cyber-attacks. It is not new, the war of information has always existed, but it is now waged on a massive scale by Russia. We see this not only in Ukraine but also in the EU, in Africa, in Latin America or in Asia. 

Russia trying to deflect its responsibility for the war

Through this propaganda and disinformation, Russia is trying to deflect its responsibility for the war, for annexations, for atrocities and for the global food and energy crises. The Kremlin has put this disinformation ecosystem in place to undermine the international support to Ukraine. To counter this hybrid war is a high priority for the EU and for Ukraine: we have to fight and win together this battle about the minds of the people, exposing Russian lies to the entire world.

To counter Russia’s hybrid war is a high priority for the EU and Ukraine: we have to fight and win together this battle about the minds of the people, exposing Russian lies to the entire world.

In Kyiv, we honoured also in Babyn Yar the memory of the more than 30 000 Ukrainian Jews assassinated at that place exactly 82 years ago. Ukraine's history is tragic today, but it was also particularly tragic during the Second World War: Ukraine was one of the main places where the Nazis persecuted the Jews.

I had finally the opportunity to discuss with the personal working at the EU delegation under particularly hard conditions. One of our Ukrainian colleagues is currently fighting against the Russian army and the husband of another one is missing on the front. I thanked all of them for their courage and dedication.

On Monday, after having honoured the memory of the fallen Ukrainian soldiers at the Wall of Remembrance, we discussed with my friend and colleague Minister Kuleba and my 27 colleagues EU Foreign Ministers the situation in Ukraine and our support to the fight against the Russian aggression. On that same day, I met also President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Smyhal.

The EU and its member states are the first supporter of Ukraine

According to the last figures, the EU and its member states are the first supporter of Ukraine in this war. Our overall commitments amount to €82 billion including €25 billion in military support. In coming weeks, we will have achieved to train 30 000 Ukrainian soldiers and we will continue to do so. 

As part of the review of the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the European Commission has proposed a multiyear € 50 billion facility for 2024-2027 to support recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine. I have proposed also a multi-annual envelope in military support under the European Peace Facility (EPF), including up to €5 billion next year. I hope that we can reach an agreement on that package before the end of the year with our member states. 

During our mission in Ukraine came the news that, to avoid a so-called “shut down”, the US Congress has adopted a bipartisan bill that did not include Ukraine support. Despite the strong engagement of the Biden administration, it fuels uncertainty on future US’ support to this country. In the short term, we couldn’t compensate for the lacking US support, and we hope that our friends and allies will quickly find ways of breaking the deadlock. For the future, this development increases EU’s responsibility to rise to the challenge launched by Vladimir Putin, a few kilometres from our borders, against our core democratic values and the international rules-based order to which the European project has always been closely linked since the beginning.

We are also strengthening the cooperation between the EU and Ukrainian defence industries. An important meeting has been held in Kyiv on this issue a few days ago. And we will continue working together on cyber defence and defence against hybrid threats such as disinformation. We need also to increase our support on demining, a key condition for Ukraine’s economic recovery and reconstruction. We are discussing about strengthening our support to reform the law enforcement sector, for more accountability and resilience via our existing EU advisory mission, which I had the opportunity to encounter in Odesa. We also exchanged on our common work on accountability issues, including the crime of aggression and inhumane actions such as the deportation of children. Russia has to pay for its aggression and for all its crimes.  

As a non-military alliance, the strongest security commitment that the EU can give to Ukraine, is EU membership.

Finally, we discussed the security guarantees to be given to Ukraine in the future. As a non-military alliance, the strongest security commitment that the EU can give to Ukraine, is EU membership. And we strongly support this prospect. However EU accession is a merit based process and we have taken stock with the Ukrainian leadership of the reforms still to be done on that path. In November, the European Commission will present a report on enlargement. And the European Council will then have to decide the way forward.  

EU and Ukraine striving for peace together

The EU fully supports Ukraine’s fight for its sovereignty but also strives for peace and nobody in the world longs more for peace than Ukrainians themselves. President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula is currently the only peace initiative proposed and discussed in the international community. We will continue working with Ukraine to garner more international support for this formula.  

With our first of this kind EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Ukraine, we have sent a strong signal to Russia: we continue and will continue to fully support Ukraine’s fight for freedom and sovereignty.