Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans attended a meeting with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Kyiv on Monday.
Timmermans stressed that “Ukraine deserves all our support” and praised EU member states for providing the country with armored fighting vehicles (AFVs), according to DW reporting on Monday.
“The fact that the Ukrainian people fight with such determination and such passion for their freedom should be a clear signal to the EU that we should support them with every means we have,” Timmermans stated.
He reminded that France and Germany announced they would provide Ukraine with AFVs and commended them for taking the “logical step.”
Last week, France announced it would send light combat tanks to Ukraine, after which Germany and the US announced they would supply Ukraine with AFVs too.
Germany said it would provide Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and the US would provide Bradleys.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been calling on NATO members to supply the country with AFVs to help it in the war against Russia.
More financial support
Timmermans stressed the importance of preventing Russia from winning the war in Ukraine and suggested that Kyiv will need more money to win.
“This is about the future of democracy,” he stated and added, “giving in to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s aggression is absolutely the wrong answer to this challenge.”
Commenting on Ukraine’s EU aspirations, Timmermans expressed the belief that the “pre-accession process” should start immediately to help Kyiv implement reforms and adopt new rules to prepare for membership.
He stressed that the process cannot start as long as Russian troops are in Ukraine and added that the EU should help Ukraine to emerge from the conflict “victorious, sovereign, independent, free and has the opportunity to make this choice itself.”
Timmermans and Shmyhal discussed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which Russia took control of, with Shmyhal noting that Ukraine expects the EU to impose sanctions on Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom. Russia took control of the power plant in March last year and transferred the control to Rosatom, which Ukraine described as theft and called for EU sanctions against the company.
