Putin's narrative that he is 'prevailing' in Ukraine war must be destroyed – Kubilius
European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius said this in an interview with Ukrinform.
"I expect that the situation in this war will start to change. If now Putin still is able to create a perception that he is prevailing in this war, that perception could change quite rapidly and significantly," Kubilius said.
He noted positive news about Ukrainian forces gaining back territory from Russia.
"Those are very important achievements because Putin has been playing on psychology of his people, being able to keep this perception that he's winning. In Russia, nobody will ask a simple question of how much land Russia gained for the cost of 1 million casualties or more. So, if that perception is diminished or destroyed, things can change very rapidly," the commissioner said.
He stressed that the EU is increasing its support for Ukraine and recalled that, under a loan program politically approved by EU leaders in December 2025, EUR 60 billion is to be allocated specifically for military assistance.
"Ukrainians want EUR 40 billion to be provided already this year, and the remaining EUR 20 billion next year," Kubilius said, adding that within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, some member states recently indicated they were ready to provide up to EUR 36 billion in additional support for Ukraine.
"It means that, in general, support for Ukraine from the EU side this year could amount to around EUR 70 billion. So it's quite a substantial increase," Kubilius said.
He added that during a recent meeting with Ukraine's Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the minister "was quite optimistic," saying such support could indeed become a breakthrough for Ukraine.
"They have a very clear plan of what they want to achieve. They want to make sure that Putin is unable to continue the war. This includes increasing their monthly casualties from 30,000 to 50,000," the commissioner said.
As reported earlier, Kubilius believes that as the European Union discusses the idea of building a unified European army, the Ukrainian Armed Forces could play a leading role.
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