US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell at the State Department in Washington, US, 13 March 2024;
Credit: Reuters/Leah Millis/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday 14 March 2024, after holding meetings in Washington, that securing new support for Ukraine could not wait since the outcome of the war in Ukraine will be decided this spring and summer.
Amid doubts over continuing US military aid to Kyiv, Borrell told reporters that his message for US policymakers was that: "Whatever has to be done, it has to be done quickly."
"It's true for us. We have to speed up. We have to increase our support, to do more and quicker. That's why we are increasing our industrial defense capacities. And it is also true for the US," Borrell said of Europe's efforts to support Ukraine's war effort.
"The next months will be decisive. Many analysts expect a major Russian offensive this summer, and Ukraine cannot wait until the result of the next US elections," he added.
President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has backed military aid to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, while his likely Republican opponent in the 5 November US election, former President Donald Trump, has a more isolationist stance.
Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, an ally of Trump, has so far refused to call a vote on a bill that would provide $60 billion more for Ukraine.
