{"id":405306,"date":"2024-11-18T20:24:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-18T19:24:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/11\/18\/fac-ucraina-missili-usa\/"},"modified":"2024-11-21T19:55:32","modified_gmt":"2024-11-21T18:55:32","slug":"eu-remains-divided-on-ukraine-despite-the-specter-of-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/11\/18\/eu-remains-divided-on-ukraine-despite-the-specter-of-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"EU remains divided on Ukraine, despite the specter of Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – Following one of the worst Russian missile attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war, the Foreign Ministers of the Twenty-Seven<\/strong> met in Brussels this morning (Nov. 18) to discuss, among other things, how to ensure European support for the attacked country,<\/strong>\u00a0especially in light of Donald Trump<\/strong>‘s recent re-election to the White House. While the EU finds it hard to maintain<\/a> its\u00a0promises on military aid to Kyiv, the specter looms in the control room that US supplies could eventually come to a\u00a0halt<\/strong> and the possibility of the new president could force<\/a>\u00a0his Ukrainian counterpart,\u00a0Volodymyr Zelensky,<\/strong> to accept a peace that benefits Moscow<\/strong>. However,\u00a0member states remain divided over how to support the former Soviet republic.<\/p>\n

Green light to use ATACMS in\u00a0Russia<\/h3>\n

The week started with the announcement<\/a>\u00a0by outgoing US president Joe Biden<\/strong> that Washington authorizes the Kyiv military to use ATACMS<\/strong> (long-range missiles capable of reaching targets 300 kilometers away) to attack the enemy on its territory<\/strong>. The\u00a0White House said it was not a blank check, but it would\u00a0be evaluated case-by-case <\/strong>whenever Ukraine needs to hit military targets beyond its borders<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Biden hopes to dissuade North Korea from sending additional troops<\/strong> into the Federation, as 10,000 Pyongyang troops are taking part in the Russian counteroffensive in the Kursk oblast<\/strong> (which the Ukrainians penetrated last August). Yesterday’s\u00a0decision represents a major shift in Washington’s approach, just two months before\u00a0the official inauguration of the second Trump presidency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell<\/strong>, who chaired his\u00a0probably last Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, welcomed the move of the White House: “In my opinion, the Ukrainians should be able to use weapons not only to repel attacks but also to strike at where these attacks<\/strong> originate,” he said, reiterating his position. However, as the EU diplomacy chief reminded us, the issue is national and up to\u00a0the chancelleries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Borrell\"<\/a>
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell (photo: European Union)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Working for Peace”<\/h3>\n

Decidedly less enthusiastic was Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani<\/strong>: “We will continue to follow the line we have always followed,” he told reporters, which is “that of using our weapons inside Ukrainian territory<\/strong>.” The Forza Italia\u00a0vice-premier reminded that “we all have to work for peace<\/strong>” (a just peace that “does not mean the defeat of Ukraine”), but certainly “we must always leave a space open for diplomacy<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

However, according to the Italian\u00a0minister, the phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz<\/strong> and Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/strong>\u00a0on Friday<\/a> – in which he asked his interlocutor to withdraw troops from Ukraine and sit at the table to negotiate a “just peace” only to be told that any negotiations will have to take into account the “new territorial realities”<\/strong> (i.e., the occupation of about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory) – did not “achieve much effect.” According to Tajani, what is needed is “a united and cohesive choice on the part of all the interlocutors” that should lead to “a peace conference”<\/strong>\u00a0along the lines of the one held in Switzerland<\/a>. He also stressed that “you cannot think of negotiating without Russia<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

The Foreign Minister\u00a0will meet his counterparts from France<\/strong>, Germany<\/strong>, United Kingdom,<\/strong> and Poland<\/strong> (and the future High Representative Kaja Kallas<\/strong>) in Warsaw on Tuesday (Nov. 19) in the so-called “Weimar plus<\/strong>” format, a forum to discuss the European position on\u00a0the war in Ukraine, which Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski<\/strong>, defined<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0“the most important talks” on the conflict<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"Antonio<\/a>
Italian Foreign Minister and deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani (photo: Samuel Corum\/Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Internal Divisions<\/h3>\n

Even in the other 27 member states,\u00a0the positions are not unanimous. Paris is possibilistic<\/strong> about the using\u00a0Western weapons on Russian territory: “We said openly that this was an option we would consider,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot<\/strong>. France and the UK have already supplied long-range missiles to Kiyv but have always maintained that they would not authorize their use beyond Ukraine’s borders until Washington did the same. Now, Biden’s move could turn the tables.<\/p>\n

For the German government, i<\/strong>t continues to be a no-go, refusing<\/strong>\u00a0to send long-range Taurus missiles<\/strong> to Kyiv. “The German government was aware of Washington’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles against Russia,” said Wolfgang Buechner<\/strong>, the chancellor’s spokesman, but “this does not change the position” of the executive. Instead, Berlin announced the supply of a large batch of kamikaze drones<\/strong> (about 4 thousand units), with delivery expected to begin in December.<\/p>\n

For the Lithuanian foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis<\/strong>, the strategy followed by the EU in these thousand days of war “has failed.\u00a0Peace<\/strong> through de-escalation is a failed strategy<\/strong>,” he told reporters, and at this point, “we need a strategy that comes from strength<\/strong>,” as both Kyiv as\u00a0the Baltic states have long called for. In other words, it is\u00a0“a true removal of all restrictions<\/strong> and an actual winning strategy,” Landsbergis pressed, to ensure “effective support for Ukraine that would help Ukraine win.”<\/p>\n

\"Atacms\"<\/a>
A multiple rocket launcher uses long-range ATACMS missiles. (photo: Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

His Estonian counterpart,\u00a0Margus Tsahkna<\/strong>, made a similar statement, saying that Putin “has no intention of changing course.” Therefore, “no phone call\u00a0strengthens\u00a0our position” on the side of\u00a0Ukraine\u00a0against Russian aggression. “Tomorrow will be a\u00a0thousand days since the start of the invasion<\/strong>,” he continued, but “actually it’s four thousand since 2014<\/strong>,” when Moscow illegally occupied Crimea and stationed its troops in Donbas. “It is a good thing, if true, that the US has lifted restrictions” on the use of ATACMS, something Tallinn had been calling for “from the very beginning” of the invasion in February 2022.<\/p>\n

Chinese drones and Russian assets<\/h3>\n

Today’s Foreign Affairs Council also spoke of other issues related to Ukraine. There is the issue of Chinese drones<\/strong>:\u00a0intelligence sources in Brussels are increasingly “convinced”<\/a>\u00a0that next-generation drones are\u00a0assembled in the People’s Republic and then transferred to Russia for use in Ukraine.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If this were confirmed, Tajani warned, “it would be a big mistake,” as it would constitute yet another escalation of the conflict: “No escalation is also a message to China<\/strong>.” At the moment, the investigations are still ongoing<\/strong>, European officials reported last week, but if confirmed, there will be unspecified “concrete consequences<\/strong>” for Beijing (the extreme ratio<\/i> would be sanctions, such as those Brussels has already imposed against Iran<\/strong> and North Korea<\/strong> for supplying arms to the Federation).<\/p>\n

\"Putin\"<\/a>
Russian presidentVladimir Putin (photo: Vyacheslav Prokofyeva via Sputnik)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is also the issue of financial aid to Kyiv.<\/strong> In the European Peace Facility (EPF),<\/strong> Hungary is blocking 6.6 billion euros. Brussels is devising a way to bypass Budapest’s veto<\/strong> and get EU funds into Ukrainian coffers, perhaps by using a voluntary contribution mechanism. After the first 1.4 billion tranche last August, the EU would like to pay\u00a0the second 1.9 billion check as early as next March<\/strong> but is still finalizing the concrete details of the disbursement. These are resources from the extraordinary interest (the famous extra-profits) generated by Russian assets frozen in Europe.<\/p>\n

The Union is also aiming to deliver in Kyiv<\/a> one million artillery shells<\/strong> (a target that should be met by year-end, eight months behind the original March deadline) and to train 75 thousand Ukrainian soldiers<\/strong> (for now,\u00a0about 63 thousand\u00a0were trained<\/a> ) by the end of winter as part of the recently extended Eumam Ukraine<\/strong> mission until November 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two months before the inauguration of the 47th president of the United States, who claims to have a plan to end the conflict, member states in Brussels continue to be divided over where to stand on the escalation of the ongoing war. Biden’s decision to allow Kyiv to use its missiles on Russian territory is at center stage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":405266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[25802,26411,26005,29718,29717,25792,25789],"class_list":["post-405306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-antonio-tajani-en-2","tag-missili-atacmsat","tag-council-business-expenses-en","tag-josep-borrell-en","tag-ukrainian-en-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405306"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":405392,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405306\/revisions\/405392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}