Eduardo González
Defense Minister Margarita Robles stated this Monday, December 1st, in Brussels that “all EU countries” agree on the importance of continuing to support Ukraine because, “at this stage of the peace plan negotiations,” the United States has not yet offered “any security guarantees.”
“All countries have emphasized the importance of continuing to support Ukraine during these peace plan negotiations. Peace cannot be accepted without the support of the Ukrainian people, and the European Union must certainly play a leading role in supporting this peace plan,” Robles stated on the occasion of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on defense, chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kakha Kallas. The meeting also included an informal exchange of views with the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Denys Shmyhal, and the NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte.
“Meanwhile, all countries, including Spain, as everyone knows, will remain fully committed to supporting Ukraine, because only a just and lasting peace—the peace that Ukrainians want—will be acceptable,” she continued.
During the meeting, according to Robles, the Minister of Defense informed his European counterparts, at Kallas’s request, about any progress in the negotiations with the United States and, more specifically, “about what security guarantees the United States was currently offering.”
“He said that, at this moment, at the present time, no security guarantees had yet been given; that is to say, the talks are in a very incipient phase, without any security guarantees,” the Minister of Defense explained.
“As of today, the talks are not at a stage where we can say there are guarantees for Ukraine to reach an agreement,” she asserted. “Precisely for this reason, given this situation, which I would venture to call, if not pessimistic, then certainly in a state of limbo, we have reinforced our commitment and support for Ukraine,” she added.
Maritime capabilities
During the Council meeting, according to Robles, the EU defense ministers also held a debate on the preparation and implementation of the defense roadmap for 2030.
“We discussed the capabilities for working together among different countries,” she explained. “Spain will be involved in five different capabilities,” but “there is one capability that is very important to us, everything related to maritime domain,” she continued. “In maritime domain, we want to co-lead with other countries, because we understand that Europe must play a very special role in everything related to maritime domain, which is perhaps one of the areas that has been most neglected,” she warned.
In addition, she explained, “we also discussed military mobility and the SAFE program (the Action Programme for the Security of Europe, a European defense fund endowed with 150 billion euros).” “As you know, Spain has requested and received approval for support under the SAFE program of one billion euros,” of which “215 million will be dedicated to supporting Ukraine,” she continued. “Furthermore, we have emphasized that one hundred million euros will be allocated to the PURL program (Ukraine Priority Requirements List, a NATO plan to assist Ukraine through the acquisition of weapons from the United States) to support Ukraine within the framework of the Atlantic Alliance,” she added.