Informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers: Press remarks by High Representative upon arrival

30/08/2024, Brussels

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Yesterday, we had a long [Informal] Foreign Affairs Council meeting, and today I hope we will have a shorter [Informal meeting of] Defence Ministers with very important issues on the table.

The most important one is the European Union's military support to Ukraine.

Inside this support, the training of the soldiers plays [an important role]. So, we will discuss how to increase our training mission (EUMAM Ukraine). The target is about 60,000 soldiers trained, we will increase this target - I will tell you by how many at the end of the day. But this is the most successful training mission ever done by the European Union. To train 60,000 - and maybe more - soldiers is remarkable. Many countries have contributed to that.

We will discuss about the possibility of opening a cell in Kyiv in order to increase our coordination with the Ukrainian Armed Forces there.

Yesterday, Minister [for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro] Kuleba was asking about the delays in supplying ammunition, supplying the material that has been promised. We will have a look at all that, where we are in our commitments.

It is clear that if the Ukrainians have our support they can fight successfully. The operation in Kursk is a good example of that. It is an audacious strategic action, successful, that shows that it depends on us, but they are ready to continue fighting as far as they have our material support.

The F-16 [fighter jets] are now being used to try to stop the attacks of Russia against Ukrainian cities. Last Monday, 300 [missiles and] drones were launched against Kyiv, and again the electricity system of Ukraine. It is clear that Putin wants to put Ukraine into the dark and the cold in the next winter, by destroying all electric capacity in Ukraine.

We will have a meeting in order to assess where we are in our commitments and how we can increase it.

Many pledges have been done since June, especially on air defence, and in face of massive attacks to Ukraine and Ukrainian cities, these days have been the worst of the war against civilians. It is clear that we will have to react. [Minister] Kuleba gave us precise data and today the Minister of Defence [of Ukraine] will be with us. Mr [Rustem] Umerov will be in close contact with the defence ministers.

Yesterday, we discussed about lifting restrictions on the use of weapons against Russian military targets. I have my personal opinion about that, certainly. I have to have personal opinions if I want to push consensus among Member States. But it is clear that this is something that belongs to each one of them. It is not an EU policy. Those countries sending long-range missiles and other weaponry to Ukraine will decide each one on their side how they can be used.

But I think it is ridiculous to say that allowing targeting inside Russian territory means to be in a war against Moscow. We are not in a war against Moscow - I think it is ridiculous to say that. We are supporting Ukraine. Ukraine is being attacked from the Russian territory, and according to international law, it can react attacking the places from where it is attacked. So, there is nothing strange in that. You can agree or not, but it is not to be in a war against Moscow if some Member States do that.

We are supporting Ukraine; we are not in a war with Russia. We are supporting Ukraine but there are different means of supporting Ukraine, and one of the most important means is by training their soldiers and providing fighter jets - that is what we are doing. EUMAM [Ukraine] is the most successful training mission that we have done in our history.

Then we will have a look at what is happening in the Red Sea, our efforts to strengthen the security of navigation in the Red Sea, and several efforts to increase our defence capacity, in particular on the industrial side.

We will welcome the new Chairs from the European Parliament for subcommittees SEDE [Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann] and representatives from the United Nations [UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix] and NATO [NATO Assistant Secretary General Angus Lapsley].

During the lunch, we will discuss about the future of our [EU] Satellite Centre [SatCen] - the eyes of Europe, something that allows us to see directly what is going on in the land every day, anyplace in the world]. It is a unique European Union capability; I have enjoyed it [and] I have taken good advantage of it. We have a geospatial intelligence; it contributes to our security. I did my best to make this centre high on the agenda of the European Union and in the public perception. We will have a look at the budget for this centre in the next years.

Q&A

Q: [Will the] European Union [train] Ukrainians soldiers also on Ukrainian soil?

It is not on the agenda.

We are thinking about having a Coordination Cellin Ukraine, but there is no agreement to train Ukrainian soldiers on Ukrainian soil with European instructors.

Q: What is your personal view on it?

I want to listen to the colleagues before.

Q: Germany yesterday toughened up on migration. Would you say it is a fair position to set up migration centres outside the European Union? Is this feasible?

Migration is not in our portfolio.

Q: I understand that you are still following the discussions. What is your position on this?

This is something that you have to ask to Commissioner [for Home Affairs, Ylva] Johansson.

Q: Yesterday, you met the Foreign Minister of Türkiye [Hakan Fidan] and you said that the European Union started again [inaudible] Türkiye a member of the European Union. Did you remember that right now there are so many Turkish opposition leaders in jail? Have you spoken about human rights, about freedom?

We discussed about everything that matters for our bilateral relations and for the geopolitical environment. We discussed mainly about how we can face the challenges that affect both of us, and in particular the stability in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the most important issue that affects our relationship which is the Cyprus issue. But we did not go into internal questions in Türkiye.

Q: Back to the Middle East and Gaza, will it be today also on the agenda?

I do not think so. The Defence Ministers have other issues to [discuss]. Yesterday, we had a long discussion about that, an interesting discussion. I do not think we are going to repeat the same thing with the Defence Ministers.

The Defence Ministers will focus on Ukraine - that is where we are using all our resources, our political will, our financial capacities, our military capacity both industrial and military itself. You cannot imagine the effort that the European armies are doing in order to support Ukraine. You cannot imagine the amount of military warfare that we are giving to Ukraine. We are exhausting our stocks, and we have to replenish it. And my colleague and friend [Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry] Breton is doing a remarkable job on increasing the capacity of the European industry. We are now already [at] around 700,000 ammunition of 155-mm calibre (precisely 650,000). So, things are going on. We are still not in the target. Our industry is increasing its capacity. But once again, I want to insist on the idea that, while we support Ukraine, even when we consider the possibility of targeting inside Russian territory, we are not in war with Russia. Nobody wants to be in war with Russia. We are just supporting Ukraine. But put [yourself] in the shoes of the Ukrainians who are being bombed by Russians from a place which is out of range of your capacity. You would like to be able to fight on equal terms. This is a war that costs a lot of lives for the Ukrainians. So, we have to support them more.

Q: Does the same also apply to the Palestinians who are now targeted by Israel now, especially that they are [inaudible] invade the West Bank?

Yes, you are perfectly right. Yes, you see that yesterday we had a long discussion about it - you know very well how the was discussion yesterday. But we cannot repeat the same discussion with other Ministers which are not competent on this matter.

Thank you.

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