The Council of the European Union on Foreign Affairs will meet in Luxembourg on 22 April and discuss Russia’s war against Ukraine.
According to the EU Council’s announcement, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, and the Minister of Defense, Rustem Umerov, will join the discussion via video link.
The EU Foreign Ministers and Defense Ministers will also participate in the debates.
The EU press service representative Peter Stano confirmed that the discussion would concern Ukraine’s defense needs. He stated that the EU is trying to do everything possible to support Kyiv.
“We are trying to provide everything that the member states can give. But it is up to the member states to decide what they can send to Ukraine and when,” said the EU spokesperson.
Russia has increased the size and the scale of the attacks on Ukraine since last month, targeting mostly Ukraine’s energy and electricity infrastructure. The strikes are causing power outages in some cities. Due to a lack of defense systems, Ukraine is unable to shoot down Russian missiles. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview for the Washington Post (WP) that Ukraine needs at least seven Patriot air defense systems to protect all Ukrainian regions.
Last week, after Russian missile attacks on Ukraine, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said that “words only cannot stop Russian President Vladimir Putin, so military support for Ukraine needs to be accelerated and expanded.”
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