EU ready ‘to assume the burden’ of Ukraine aid from US: Poland

WARSAW: Major EU countries are ready to provide defence and financial aid to Ukraine if the United States reduces support, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on Tuesday (Nov 19).
He was speaking on the 1,000th day of the Russian invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, as foreign ministers from six major European countries held talks in Warsaw dominated by the war and Donald Trump’s return to power.
Top diplomats from France, Germany, Italy and Poland joined the meeting, while Britain’s David Lammy and Spain’s Jose Manuel Albares took part by video.
“I note with appreciation the readiness of the largest European Union countries to assume the burden of military and financial support for Ukraine in the context of a possible reduction in US involvement,” Sikorski told reporters after the talks.
The Warsaw gathering followed a meeting of all EU foreign ministers in Brussels and comes as Trump’s return to the White House threatens a drastic change in US policy nearly three years into the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“There is a big common worry over the security situation in Europe and above all the situation in Ukraine,” said Germany’s foreign ministry spokesperson Kathrin Deschauer ahead of the talks.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga was also invited but could not attend as he was travelling between Ukraine and the United States.
The gathering comes just after President Joe Biden gave permission for Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
Slammed by Russia, the move represents a major foreign policy shift and could prompt Washington’s European allies to follow suit.
But Trump, who has been far more sceptical of US aid for Ukraine, could well about-turn when he returns to office in January.
Poland, a fervent backer of Kyiv, welcomed the move, with Sikorski calling it a response “in language that Vladimir Putin understands” to Russia’s reported deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to help its war effort.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to say whether his country would approve the use of its missiles.
France also remained prudent. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Monday reiterated that the prospect of using French missiles remained “an option”.
Germany has again refused to deliver its long-range Taurus missile system that Kyiv has long craved, announcing it would supply 4,000 artificial intelligence-guided drones to Kyiv instead.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz stood by the decision in the face of renewed pressure, pointing to the fear of an escalation between Russia and the West and warning Berlin could be drawn directly into the conflict.