EU ‘part of the conflict’ in Ukraine – Borrell

The bloc is “in the game” but “not a party to the war,” Josep Borrell has said

The European Union is directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which will determine its geopolitical future, the bloc’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has stated.

Borrell spoke on a panel about EU enlargement during the ‘Quo Vadis Europa?’ seminar in Santander, Spain. The annual event has been hosted by the Menendez y Pelayo International University (UIMP) since 2013.

“What is happening in Ukraine will determine the geopolitical future of Europe,” Borrell said at one point during Friday’s discussion.

“We must think about Ukraine when we become participants in the game. We are part of this game. We are not a party to the war, but we are part of the conflict, and how this conflict is resolved will affect peace and our security,” he added.

The former Spanish foreign minister has served as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since December 2019. 

🇺🇦🇷🇺🇪🇺 “What's going to happen to Ukraine, will also determine our geopolitical future. We have to think about Ukraine putting ourselves in the game. We're part of the game, not part of the war, but part of the conflict”
- Borrell

High stakes for these idiots pic.twitter.com/EsTNpktTZJ

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) August 23, 2024

Borrell has previously endorsed the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region, called it “a severe blow to Russian President [Vladimir] Putin’s narrative,” and urged the West to lift all restrictions on Kiev’s use of weapons, as this would “help advance peace efforts.”

Russia has repeatedly accused the US and its allies of open involvement in the conflict, but the collective West has always insisted that providing Ukraine with over $100 billion in money, weapons, ammunition, and equipment – while seizing Russian assets and imposing sweeping economic sanctions – did not actually make it a party to the hostilities.

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Borrell has a history of articulating the claim that the EU has been using Ukraine as a proxy against Russia. In April, he told the World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia that “Europeans will not go to die for the Donbass,” but are committed to funding Ukrainians indefinitely.

In March, he told CNN that US and EU involvement is “not a matter of supporting Ukraine because we love Ukrainian people,” but in the interest of the US “as a global player, someone who has to be perceived as a reliable partner, a security provider to the allies.”

Putin has described the Western position as cynical, accusing the US and its allies of wanting to fight Russia “to the last Ukrainian.”