EU 'ready to contribute' to Ukraine security commitments

A strong message of support to Kyiv is expected before the Nato summit

Ukrainian servicemen on a tank in the Donetsk region on June 28. AFP

The EU’s 27 leaders are expected to endorse security commitments to Ukraine during a two-day summit in Brussels that starts on Thursday.

The gathering comes two weeks before many of the same leaders travel to Lithuania for a Nato summit that will also focus on the war-torn country.

A draft version of the European Council conclusions seen by The National on Wednesday said that the EU is “ready to contribute, together with partners, to future security commitments to Ukraine, which will help Ukraine defend itself in the long term, deter acts of aggression and resist destabilisation efforts".

The details of such a contribution are still to be determined, but an EU diplomat described the wording of the conclusions as a “very strong political message” of support to Ukraine.

“They key point here is long term military support,” they said, compared with the immediate aid that has been delivered by the EU to Ukraine since the start of the war last year.

Giving Ukraine security guarantees is an idea that has been strongly pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Macron said in a speech on May 31 in Bratislava that they were needed for two reasons: “Ukraine today is protecting Europe and provides security guarantees to Europe.”

It is also regarded as a way of appeasing Ukraine's pressing demands to join Nato as fast as possible.

All allies agree that Ukraine cannot join Nato until the war is over to avoid an all-out Nato-Russia war, but some want it to happen faster than others.

“Sooner or later, we need Ukraine in Nato,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday.

"It’s good for Ukraine but also for Europe, because we want Europe to be a prosperous region, and we can be prosperous when it’s clear that we don’t have wars on our ground,"

Baltic states have been among the strongest supporters of Ukraine’s transatlantic aspirations.

The EU has so far provided over €20 billion in military support to Ukraine.

The European Parliament and member states on Wednesday struck for a €300 million fund to incentivise countries to jointly procure weapons for Ukraine while replenishing their own stockpiles.

EU countries have also independently sent aid to Ukraine, including tanks and fighter jets.

Long-term security commitments would be different, the EU diplomat said.

“We can do training, joint exercises, military co-operation and missions,” they told The National. “The EU can’t give guarantees of military intervention or dissuasion, but this is the EU’s contribution.”

A working lunch between European leaders and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is scheduled on Thursday. Other topics including migration and the EU’s relation with China will also be on the agenda.

France recently started to consider the possibility of Ukraine becoming a full member of Nato as a way of encouraging peace negotiations after Kyiv's counter-offensive ends, and possibly barring Moscow from attempting a new invasion in the future, according to French media reports.

A compromise between Ukraine’s desires and what the alliance can offer is expected to be announced at Nato’s next summit in Lithuania, on July 11 and 12.