We believe in a free and sovereign Ukraine on its way to the European Union, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on her way to the Ukrainian capital Kiev, where she will attend events marking the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a special envoy of the European Newsroom - a platform for cooperation between European news agencies, of which the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency is a part, reported BTA.
„Today we will be in Kiev because Ukraine is Europe. Our close partnership is in the interest of Ukraine, but also in the interest of Europe“, said von der Leyen.
„Ukraine has a highly innovative and developing defense industry. It must strengthen the resilience of the European Union while we take more responsibility for our own security,” she noted.
“We have prepared an ambitious energy package that will increase energy security, both for Ukraine and for the European Union. The aim is to fully integrate the electricity markets of Ukraine and Moldova with our electricity market by the end of the year“, the President of the European Commission revealed.
“A free and sovereign Ukraine is in the interest of the whole world. We will increase punitive sanctions against Russia unless it demonstrates a genuine willingness to reach a lasting peace agreement“, she added.
“We have closed the gaps in Ukraine’s budget for the whole of 2025. In parallel, we must accelerate the immediate delivery of weapons and ammunition. This will be at the heart of our work in the coming weeks. I will soon present a comprehensive plan on how to strengthen ammunition production and defense capabilities in Europe. Ukraine will also benefit from this“, Ursula von der Leyen concluded.
EU leaders will meet at an extraordinary summit on March 6 to discuss additional support for Ukraine, European security guarantees and how to cover the funds needed for European defense, Reuters reported.
“We are living in a defining moment for Ukraine and for European security. In consultations with European leaders, I heard a shared commitment to confront these challenges at the European Union level: strengthening European defense and making a decisive contribution to peace on our continent and the long-term security of Ukraine“, wrote on the social network “Ex“ European Council President Antonio Costa.
The meeting comes after US President Donald Trump began talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, but without inviting Ukraine itself or the European Union to the negotiating table. The Trump administration has made it clear that it will now focus more on China than on Russia and that Europeans will have to do more for their own defense than rely on Washington.
According to an agreement between NATO members, EU countries that are part of the alliance must spend 2% of GDP on defense each year, but many of them, including large countries such as Germany, Italy or Spain, still allocate less to defense.
The European Commission estimates that the EU needs 500 billion euros in additional defense investment over the next 10 years and EU leaders will discuss how to raise the funds. Leaders are more likely to focus on using EU funds already available for military purposes, or to facilitate the spending of national funds without EU restrictions.
Officials are discussing the possible use for defense of about 90 billion euros in loans and some grants from the EU's COVID-19 recovery fund, which are unlikely to be spent before the 2026 deadline. There is also discussion of using EU cohesion funds - money from the EU's long-term budget intended to equalize living standards across the bloc - for projects that could help the military.
Finally, Brussels could declare all defense investments exempt from EU restrictions on state spending, which would avoid sanctions on governments for undertaking large defense projects.
Ukrainian state-owned military enterprises have independently produced 154 howitzers in the past year - "more than all NATO countries combined," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference in Kiev last night, DPA reported.
“I consider this a significant leap”, Zelensky said, noting a plan for Ukraine to produce half of its weapons needs this year on its own.
Zelensky also announced the production of anti-aircraft systems. He had earlier said that Ukraine had become the world's largest producer of military drones.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for almost three years and continues to rely heavily on foreign arms supplies. It is also expanding its own production, despite constant Russian missile and drone strikes.