KYIV: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell arrived Saturday in Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of Europe’s backing in the first visit by a top Brussels official after Donald Trump’s poll win.
The volatile Republican’s victory in the United States election has set nerves jangling in Ukraine and Europe that Trump could end Washington’s support for Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion.
“The message is a clear one — the Europeans will continue to support Ukraine,” Borrell, who is set to leave office next month, told an AFP journalist accompanying him.
“We have been supporting Ukraine since the beginning, and on this my last visit to Ukraine, I convey the same message, we will support you as much as we can.”
On the campaign trail, Trump cast doubt on maintaining the vast US military and financial aid to Ukraine and said he could cut a quick deal to end the war.
“Nobody knows exactly what the new administration is going to do,” Borrell said, pointing out that incumbent Joe Biden still has two months in power to make decisions.
“But we Europeans have to use this opportunity in order to build a stronger and united Europe, and one of the manifestations of being united and being stronger and able to act is our role in supporting Ukraine.”
Europe together has spent around $125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, while the United States alone has coughed up more than $90 billion, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute.
Keeping the US, Ukraine’s single biggest donor, on board is seen by most as key for ensuring Kyiv stays afloat, especially at a time of political uncertainty in major European powers Germany and France.
On the battlefield, Ukraine’s fatigued troops are struggling to stave off Russia’s advances as they approach three years of full-scale combat.
Borrell, who will meet top Ukrainian officials on his visit, said it was up to EU countries to decide “when and how to increase” their support if needed.
But he said that at a meeting of EU leaders in Budapest Friday “most of the member states were insisting on the same line, continue supporting Ukraine.”
EU’s Borrell in Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of Europe’s backing
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EU’s Borrell in Kyiv to reassure Ukraine of Europe’s backing
- ‘The message is a clear one — the Europeans will continue to support Ukraine’
- Europe together has spent around $125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion
Guinea confirms detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers
- Guinea said late Tuesday the soldiers entered the Koudaya district in the Faranah region without authorization
- Guinea said its forces seized their equipment and supplies
CONAKRY: Guinea’s military confirmed the detention of 16 Sierra Leonean soldiers after accusing them of crossing the border and raising their flag on Guinean soil.
The two West African countries have been involved in a border dispute for more than two decades, stemming from the Sierra Leonean Civil War between 1991 and 2002. Sierra Leone’s government had invited Guinea to help defend its eastern borders during the war, but the Guinean troops didn’t completely withdraw after the war.
The GuineanMinistry of National Defense said in a statement, issued late Tuesday, the soldiers entered the district of Koudaya in Faranah, a border region in Guinea, without authorization, where they“set up a tent and raised their national flag”. Guinean authorities also seized their equipment and supplies.
The Sierra Leonean authorities earlier Tuesday said several members of a security unit, including an officer, had been apprehended while making bricks fora border post in Kalieyereh in the district of Falaba on Monday.
Last year, the Guinean military entered a mineral-rich border town in Sierra Leone, reigniting the tension.
