On 20 October, the United States and the European Union reaffirmed their “steadfast support” for Ukraine, listing reforms and priorities for post-war reconstruction of Ukraine, according to the EU-US summit joint statement.
The US-EU summit joint statement supported the key principles and objectives of Ukraine’s Peace Formula. In the statement, the US and EU urged Russia “to withdraw its military forces and proxies and military equipment immediately, completely, and unconditionally” from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, including annexed Crimea.
The US-EU statement noted that Russia should fail in destroying the Ukrainian economy and that efforts to support Ukraine should be taken with no delay.
The Ukraine Plan should contain a common set of short-term priority economic, rule of law, and democratization reforms, as well as a prioritized and well-coordinated approach to recovery and reconstruction assistance and investment, the US-EU summit joint statement stressed.
The statement specifically reaffirmed that the US and EU will continue to provide Ukraine with funding to protect, repair, and rebuild its energy sector under EU standards.
“We [the US and EU – ed.] recognize Ukraine’s commitment and progress in implementing reforms and emphasize the strategic importance of the EU accession process,” the statement added.
The statement also mentioned the possibility of transferring frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine and its recovery.
“As part of our efforts to aid Ukraine, in the short term, we will explore how any extraordinary revenues held by private entities stemming directly from immobilized Russian sovereign assets, where those extraordinary revenues are not required to meet obligations towards Russia under applicable laws, could be directed to support Ukraine and its recovery and reconstruction in compliance with applicable laws, according to the statement.
According to the statement, the US and EU plan to deepen their joint work “to undermine Russia’s ability to wage its war” and maintain and expand its defense industrial base and capacity.
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