Informal Foreign Affairs Council (Defence): Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell at the press conference

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Now, let’s go to our Informal meeting [of Defence ministers] that has been very timely with important exchanges on two main topics. 

 

We have been talking about a lot of things - some of them are more practical and others are more political - but certainly the discussion has been focusing on two main topics: Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the situation in Niger and in the wider Sahel, and the security implications that both have for Europeans. 

Ukraine has remained at the centre of our discussions. The Ukrainian Defence Minister, our friend Oleksii Reznikov, has addressed the Council via video message and gave us an update on the situation on the ground, and on the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive.  

After talking with the Defence Minister of Ukraine, we discussed the European short and longer-term commitments for the security of Ukraine.  

First, let me stress the fact that in spite of global condemnation, Putin does not show any sign of letting up in his aggression against the Ukrainian people. He continues the war and that is why Ukraine needs long-term, sustainable and predictable military support.   

I want also to stress that our continued support is important for the Ukrainian counter-offensive in response to the Russian invasion. If there was not the war waged by Putin on Ukraine, there would not be the need for this kind of support. There are causes and consequences. The cause is Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,the consequence is the need to support Ukraine in the short and long term. 

We have discussed our support in three areas.

 

First, on military equipment. I proposed a Ukraine Assistance Fund for the period 2024-2027 to ensure the sustainability of our military assistance. 

This Fund – which would be embedded inside the European Peace Facility - should be a core element of our long-term contribution to the security of Ukraine, as European Leaders agreed in June. I propose a Fund with around €5 billion every year. This should be [seen as] a ceiling, not a spending target. If we could spend less, [it would be] much better, but this should be our ceiling to programme in the medium term our efforts to support Ukraine. 

The Ministers have discussed this topic. It will be also discussedtomorrow with the Foreign Affairs Ministers, and I hope that an agreement can be reached as soon as possible. I hope before the end of this year. 

The second instrument we have been focusing on is the training mission, our EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM), [our] training mission for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This mission has had a real impact, and it has been implemented at an unprecedented speed. 

 

This mission has already trained 25,000 Ukrainian soldiers – some of them here, in Toledo, thanks to the Spanish army. [The mission] will reach the objective, which was programmed for the end of the year, at the end of October, [when] we will have reached the 30,000 soldiers trained by this mission.  

You know, I am always saying that “we need to do more and faster”. “More and faster” it is becoming a trending topic. Yes, more and faster. I still think that we have to do more and faster, and I proposed to the Ministers to raise the objective of the mission to 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers trained [in the coming months].

It is also important to reflect on the evolving needs of the Ukrainian army and working not only on quantity but also on quality. 

 

Ukrainians need more specialised training for smaller groups and for command capacities.

We have welcomed the decision by the Netherlands and Denmark to provide F-16 airplanes to Ukraine. 

And we will explore the possibility of how we can integrate these F-16 pilot training modules inside our mission. Our mission should be also able to contribute to the training of these pilots for these planes.  

The third area [we discussed] was ammunition.  

You know that we have been working under the three-track ammunition initiative. The first one was taking stocks from the European armies – it ended at the end of May. We have taken an important volume of ammunition valued at about €1.1 billion, which corresponds to about 224,000 ammunition rounds and about 2,300 missiles. This is the Track one, which has already been closed because it had a concrete time period.  

Second is the Track two. The European Defence Agency (EDA) has been negotiating over the summer with the European defenceindustry to procure 155-mm ammunition.  

Three framework contracts have already been signed. Now it is to the Member States to pass concrete orders inside these framework agreements with the industry. We did our work. The agreement with the industry has already been signed [and] now Member States can use this possibility to pass common orders to the industry. 

 

Then, there is Track three, which is more in the hands of the [European] Commission to ramp-up the industrial capacity to produce more military capacities in Europe.  

This is a long-term endeavour, but the industry can only deliver if they have new orders, and they will not deliver if they do not have new orders, in order to increase its supply capacities. 

That is why the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP), which was approved by the European Parliament in July – by the way, in a very short time frame - will provide a tool to support our ammunition industry. The [European] Commission will take this work forward.  

This discussion among us showed our strong coordination with NATO. A NATO representative was present at the meeting, together with the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations [Jean-Pierre Lacroix] and a representative of the European Parliament [Natalie Loiseau]. 

We also discussed the negative effects on the food supplies and the energy prices around the world, due to the fact that Putin has not been willing to prolong the [Black Sea] Grain initiative. This was very bad news. It is going to have destabilising effects around the world, and it will – unhappily – also affect us. 

We have to continue providing the means and the ways for the Ukrainian food production to be exported from the country and reach the international markets. 

This brings me to the Sahel region which is strongly dependent on the exports of grain from Ukraine. We discussed with the ministers the coup in Niger and its wider implications. 

I think that is all. Margarita [Robles, Minister for Defence of Spain], thank you for your patience and thank you very for this extraordinary meeting that you have organised. 

 

Q&A 

Q. High Representative, going back to the three-track initiative for ammunition for Ukraine, according to the numbers that you have given us, you are halfway through the one-year target, but you have reached only about less than a quarter of the number of shells you are aiming to deliver. How concerned are you by that current slow state of progress? Are you looking at potential other ideas to speed up the amount of ammunitions that can be delivered? Is there any specific reaction to the Slovakian proposal to refurbish old shells to increase the number of shells that you can deliver quickly to Ukraine? 

Yes, we are going to consider the Slovak proposal you are mentioning. 

 

I think we have done our work. We have reached out to Member States, [saying] we are ready to co-finance the delivery of your ammunitions taken from your stocks for Ukraine. And the Member States have responded in less than two months, and we have provided the figures I have already said.

  

If the Member States are not in a situation to provide more from their stocks, it is only a stimulus [for them] to increase the production capacity and to do it quicker and better. “Más y másrápido”. I would like to coin these two words. We need to do more and quicker. But do not under evaluate what we have already done. We said that we were going to agree with the industry frameworks for the Member States to go and ask together, and to pass orders all together to the industry. Well, it is done.

  

Now, the Member States will have to decide. 

Thirdly, we have approved in July – against the clock – in the European Parliament, the Act that will allow us to give the financial support to the European industry to ramp-up their capacities. If there is any other possibility, I will consider [it]. This proposal that you mentioned will be considered, but in the end, it is more or less the same thing: to ask the Member States’ armies to provide what they already have and to ask the industry to have stronger capacities, and to ask the Member States to act together in order to reduce the costs and the delivery time. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-245064