EU ready to respond decisively to Russia's aggression against Ukraine - Borrell

EU High Representative Josep Borrell said this at a plenary meeting of the European Parliament on Tuesday, December 14. He took part in a discussion on responding to Russia's military build-up around Ukraine's borders and in the temporarily occupied territories, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"We will continue to take steps to increase our deterrence and avoid any kind of military action to start happening. We need to be prepared for the worst and to expect the best. That means that we, the Parliament, the Commission, the High Representative, the European Union Council, all governments of the Member States would send a united and strong message to the Russian leadership indicating that we are ready to respond decisively to any kind of military action against Ukraine should it happen," Borrell said.

He said the EU should also reaffirm its support to achieve full implementation of the Minsk Agreements in order to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

At the same time, the EU will continue to closely coordinate and cooperate on these issues with transatlantic and like-minded partners, as it did in Liverpool at the G7 meeting [when ministers adopted a strong statement in support of Ukraine], Borrell said.

"The challenges that Ukraine is facing go well beyond the military dimension, at least the classical military dimension. They are part of a wider hybrid concerted aggression - which also involves energy, disinformation and cyberattacks – and these are just some of the new characteristics of these new challenges. Therefore, we will spare no effort to help to further strengthen the resilience of Ukraine, its people and government across all sectors - such as democracy, human rights, rule of law, people-to-people contacts, trade, energy, cyber security, environment, public health and countering disinformation," Borrell said.

Photo: DPA

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