The prime ministers of Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic, Estonia and the Netherlands yesterday called for further support for Ukraine, which has been defending itself against Russia’s military invasion for nearly two years, in an open letter published by the Financial Times.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later wrote on Twitter (styled as ‘X’) to express his gratitude to the five European leaders.
“The Prime Minister has agreed with other heads of state on the joint text of the letter, which aims to continue to support the arming of Ukraine and to contribute to the discussion ahead of Thursday’s European Council meeting,” the Czech Government Office press department wrote to CTK.
The five prime ministers say that if Ukrainian soldiers are to keep fighting, they will need lots of ammunition, and so arms and ammunition deliveries from EU member states are more important than ever before, specifically howitzers, tanks, drones and air defence. All of this must happen now, they wrote, because an increase in these supplies will be reflected on the battlefield only next year.
Europe should therefore not give up, and should redouble the collective effort to provide military support, according to the letter signed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Danish PM Mette Frederiksen, Czech PM Petr Fiala, Estonian PM Kaja Kallas and Dutch PM Mark Rutte.
The leaders admit that the European Union will not meet its goal from last year, when it pledged to deliver one million pieces of artillery ammunition to Ukraine by March 2024. However, they say that the EU cannot break its promise, and must therefore find a way to speed up the delivery of artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
The letter continues that the EU’s ability to continue to support Ukraine’s defence, during the winter and beyond, is a matter of life and death for common European security and for the Ukrainian security forces, adding that the burden is so heavy that all EU member states must do their utmost to support Ukraine, as part of a collective long-term effort.
The letter also notes that the strong support of the EU and its member states has been successful in preventing Russia from achieving any of its goals in the war it started.
“I am grateful to the leaders of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany and the Netherlands for their unwavering support for Ukraine and their timely call in the Financial Times for a joint effort to arm Ukraine in the interests of all of Europe,” Zelenskiy wrote on social media. “Together we will defeat unprovoked Russian aggression and restore peace in Ukraine and Europe.”
The heads of EU states and their governments will meet on Thursday at an extraordinary summit in Brussels to discuss further military and financial aid to Ukraine. Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has the strongest reservations about providing aid, amid reports of rising tensions with other EU leaders over the issue.
