Putin win in Ukraine 'no victory' for Trump: EU's top diplomat

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Monday that letting Russia win in Ukraine would represent a loss for the United States, as Donald Trump prepares to return to the presidency.

"Certainly it would not be a victory for the American leadership if Ukraine crumbles down and Putin wins the war," Borrell told AFP on the first visit to Kyiv by a senior EU official since Trump's US election triumph.

Trump's re-election has raised concern in Ukraine and Europe that he could end Washington's support for Kyiv's fight against Russia's invasion.

On the campaign trail, Trump cast doubt on maintaining the vast US military and financial aid to Ukraine and said he could cut a quick deal to end the war.

Borrell's trip to Ukraine, his last before leaving office next month, was aimed at reassuring Kyiv that it still has Europe's firm backing regardless of the US election outcome.

The Kremlin on Monday denied a report by The Washington Post that Trump and Putin discussed the Ukraine war in a telephone call last week.

Borrell said he had no indication of whether they had spoken already but added they "certainly will" talk at some point.

"It's not a surprise," he said, noting that EU leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had also said they were ready to talk to Putin.

"That is part of the game," he said.

- 'Existential' war -

Europe together has spent around $125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, while the United States alone has provided more than $90 billion, according to a tracker from the Kiel Institute, a German research body.

"I cannot anticipate what will be the position of the U.S.," said Borrell, who was set to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"But let me say one thing, we have to escape of the logic of the U.S. acting and we, Europe reacting -- we have to have our own capacity to act."

On the battlefield, Ukraine's troops are struggling to stave off Russia's advances as they approach three years of full-scale combat.

Borrell said that the goal of helping Ukraine prevail in the war remained "exactly the same" and that the bloc's long-term commitment had been shown in its decision to put Kyiv on the road to membership.

He said Putin's aim was to put "Ukrainian society under the boot of Russian domination".

"So they have to resist against it," he said. "It's existential."

Borrell, who visited a plant producing drones for Ukraine's forces while in the country, said the EU should step up its help to bolster Kyiv's defense industry so it can increasingly arm itself.

The EU has already put 400 million euros ($426 million) towards helping to bolster Ukraine's military output.

"It's much more efficient to support Ukrainians in developing their own industrial capacity," he said.