Ukrainian strikes on Russia are ‘remarkable’: EU defence chief

European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius said that Ukraine’s recent advances targeting Russian maritime vessels and energy infrastructure is putting Kyiv in a position of strength — and should hopefully force Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

“It’s remarkable what Ukraine managed to achieve during the recent half a year with deep strikes,” he said on the Europe Today programme.

“Such kind of development should be a clear argument for Putin and his surroundings — that he is not able to achieve any significant development in his war aims, and that is the moment when real negotiations on just peace should start.”

The EU is coming to Ukraine’s aid amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion through the provision of the €90 billion loan, with €60 billion earmarked for defence.

On top of this, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week visited the Ukrainian capital and announced a drone deal with Kyiv.

European defence

On European defence, Kubilius regretted that some countries were “diminishing” their initial ambitions for a share of the EU’s €150 billion defence loan programme, known as Security Action for Europe (SAFE), citing what he described as their own fiscal constraints.

This is part of the European Union’s push to rearm itself by 2030 — a year highlighted by various national security agencies and defence officials as the date when the continent’s defences could be tested by foreign aggression, such as Russia.

Kubilius said that 19 countries have had their loan agreements endorsed by the EU executive but some are revising their initial pitches.

“We see that some countries are, a little bit, diminishing their, let’s say, initial wishes,” he said.

“Some countries are a little bit more cautious to take the money. Usually, the reason is the fiscal situation, or fiscal limits in the country, so that is what we see.”

Poland was afforded the largest SAFE loan of approximately €43 billion.

Before its application was formally endorsed, the country’s president Karol Nawrocki, from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, claimed the money would impinge on national sovereignty.

Similar disputes have occurred in other nations, such as Romania — with the Commission and Bucharest finalising an approximate €16 billion loan after internal disputes regarding its allocation, and drones entering its airspace.

Kubilius said that Europe’s eastern flank, seen as shouldering much of the EU’s security, has taken the “biggest responsibility to spend SAFE loans”.

The Baltic regions of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have loans worth an accumulated €12 billion, with an emphasis placed particularly on drone and anti-drone capabilities.

American rhetoric

Kubilius also responded to US President Donald Trump’s renewed pledge at last week’s NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, to control Greenland, the autonomous Arctic territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterated at the time that “Greenland is of course not for sale”.

Kubilius said that Trump’s remarks are not new and the EU response is very clear. “Denmark was promised all the support from our side,” he said.

He added that Trump’s public statements are sometimes “emotional” and that the bloc needs to learn how to properly react.

“During the years of President Trump being in power, we have to say, we see some kind of difference in his public statements, in sometimes emotional statements,” he said.

“We need to learn how to mitigate on our side, our reactions.”

When the Republican leader reiterated his annexationist rhetoric earlier this year, the Danish government announced in April it would purchase the SAMP/T NG ground-to-air missile defence system.

This is a French-Italian air defence system, widely seen as the European answer to the American Patriot air defence missile systems. Denmark, France and Italy have made orders for the SAMP/T NG, with Ukraine joining the list on Monday.

Asked whether this was how Europeans should respond to Trump’s statements, Kubilius said “each country decides what they want to procure”.

“When we are using European Union money, with SAFE loans and so on, we want that member states should spend those money more for European products,” he said.

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