Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcome the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Kyiv for the meeting. EPA
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcome the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Kyiv for the meeting. EPA
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcome the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Kyiv for the meeting. EPA
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcome the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Kyiv for the meeting. EPA

EU puts on show of unity in Kyiv amid cracks in western alliance


Tim Stickings
  • English
  • Arabic

The EU's 27 foreign ministers arrived in Kyiv for a surprise summit in a symbolic show of unity as cracks emerge in the West's support for Ukraine.

Ukraine, an aspiring EU member, described the talks as a “historic event” and the first such meeting “within the future borders of the European Union”.

But they took place following an election result in Slovakia that could put a Russia-friendly government in power, as well as horse-trading in Washington that saw aid for Ukraine struck from the US budget.

The developments come with Ukraine making only gradual advances in a counter-offensive to retake territory from Russia, raising fears of war fatigue among its allies.

Seeking to hold the line, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Monday that ministers had come to Kyiv “with a will to express their commitment”.

“This war is having deep consequences for the whole world, but for us Europeans. it’s an existential threat. Maybe it’s not being seen like this for everybody around the world,” he said.

The talks were expected to touch on possible future peace talks after a meeting in Saudi Arabia in August that Ukraine described as productive.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba played down the cracks in the western alliance, calling the US budget row “an incident” that did not suggest “the US support has been shattered”.

President Joe Biden's Democrats accepted a budget deal that removed assistance for Ukraine to stop Republicans in Congress from shutting down the government. The standoff comes with a US election on the horizon that could return Donald Trump to power.

“Against the background of a potential shutdown in the United States, the decision was taken as it was. We are now working with both sides of the Congress to make sure that it does not repeat again under any circumstances,” Mr Kuleba said.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he took “great relief” from Mr Biden's assurances that he would push for continued US aid to Ukraine.

He said Europe “should be ready to do even more” to support Ukraine and “send a strong transatlantic signal, that’s what going on our own soil is something we have to take on a great responsibility for”.

Ukraine-Russia conflict – in pictures

Latvian representative Andris Pelss sought to play down divisions hanging over the meeting, saying “the fact that we are all here also shows how wide and deep the support is”. Croatia's foreign minister Gordan Grlic Radman said the visit “sends a message of how united we are”.

After Slovakia's newly crowned election winner Robert Fico said the country had “bigger problems” than the war in Ukraine, Mr Kuleba said it was too early to judge the impact.

Ukraine “respects the choice the people of Slovakia made,” he said, with Mr Fico set to begin coalition talks on forming a new government.

The result in Slovakia was celebrated by Hungary's nationalist government, which has been the main dissenting voice on EU sanctions on Russia.

Poland's once-steadfast support for Ukraine has also been called into question by a row over agricultural exports, while a Russia-friendly far-right party is enjoying rising popularity in Germany.

Any Ukrainian membership of the EU will eventually have to be backed by all the bloc's current members.

Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202-litre%20direct%20injection%20turbo%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%207-speed%20automatic%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20261hp%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20400Nm%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20From%20Dh134%2C999%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12

Power: 819hp

Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm

Price: From Dh1,700,000

Available: Now

THE CLOWN OF GAZA

Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah 

Starring: Alaa Meqdad

Rating: 4/5

T20 World Cup Qualifier, Muscat

UAE FIXTURES

Friday February 18: v Ireland

Saturday February 19: v Germany

Monday February 21: v Philippines

Tuesday February 22: semi-finals

Thursday February 24: final 

Sunday's games

Liverpool v West Ham United, 4.30pm (UAE)
Southampton v Burnley, 4.30pm
Arsenal v Manchester City, 7pm

VEZEETA PROFILE

Date started: 2012

Founder: Amir Barsoum

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: HealthTech / MedTech

Size: 300 employees

Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)

Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC

Updated: October 02, 2023, 10:59 AM`