European Union (EU) leaders reaffirmed their continued support for Ukraine, but failed to produce an output.
At a Brussels summit on March 20, 26 of the EU’s 27 member states issued a position paper in an effort to advance an agreement among EU leaders to provide more comprehensive support to Ukraine.
The position paper reaffirmed that “The European Union and Member States are ready to contribute to security guarantees, in particular by supporting Ukraine’s ability to defend itself effectively, based on their respective competences and capabilities,” and called on Russia to “show real political will to end the war”.
However, the position paper was not adopted as a unanimous joint statement, as pro-Russian Hungarian Prime Minister Orban was not on board.
Hungary also refused to participate in a joint statement at a special summit two weeks ago.
The meeting also failed to agree on an emergency aid package for Ukraine.
Earlier, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, proposed that countries voluntarily contribute up to 40 billion euros in military aid this year.
However, France, Italy, and other countries that are heavily burdened by the idea of contributing in proportion to their gross national income (GNI) reportedly balked at the idea.
In response, Kallas re-proposed a €5 billion fund to provide Ukraine with immediate ammunition needs first, but no agreement was reached.
Traditionally, the EU’s March summit focuses on the economic agenda, but defense and security issues have taken center stage as negotiations to end the war in Ukraine move quickly and fears of a US withdrawal from European security have grown.
