Josep Borrell: No time for peace talks, Ukraine must be supported militarily
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said on Friday that "this is not the time" for "diplomatic peace talks" with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, and that the only valid peace proposal is that of Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski, i.e. the withdrawal of Russian troops from all occupied Ukrainian territory, reports EFE, quoted by Agerpres.ro.
"Unfortunately, this is not the time for diplomatic peace talks, this is the time for military support in the war" for Ukraine, Borrell said in his speech at the "State of the Union" forum in the Italian city of Florence.
The official welcomed China's involvement, following the telephone conversation between Volodimir Zelenski and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, but sees the peace initiative previously mentioned by China as more of a "list of wise considerations" and believes that the only proposal to consider is Ukraine's, namely the complete withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine's borders prior to the annexation of Crimea.
Josep Borrell did not mention other mediation proposals, such as the one recently announced by the Vatican but denied by both Moscow and Kiev, or that of Brazilian President Lula da Silva. He defended the American and European position to continue supplying Ukraine with weapons to defeat Russia militarily.
"The reality is that Putin has said he still has military objectives and until he achieves them he will continue to fight," the EU diplomacy chief reasoned. "If we had not supported Ukraine, its fall would have been a matter of days. We have no choice ", Borrell added.
