EU top diplomat to pay 3-day visit to Ukraine

BRUSSELS

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will pay a three-day visit to Ukraine this week to show support with Kyiv in the face of the Russian threat, the European Commission announced on Monday.

“High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell will be traveling to Ukraine on 4-6 January,” the EU executive body said in a statement.

“His first foreign trip this year underscores EU’s strong support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity at a time when the country is confronted with a Russian military buildup and hybrid actions,” the document read.

During his trip, Borrell will first visit eastern Ukraine and the line of contact with his Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, and hold talks with Ukrainian authorities in Kyiv.

Top EU officials have repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty over the past months, stating that an attack against Ukraine would result in high political and economic costs for Russia.

In December, Borrell told EU lawmakers that the bloc’s diplomatic service had been working in a “prevention mood” to avoid the escalation of the conflict, but prepared different scenarios on Russia’s actions against Ukraine.

In 2014, Moscow began to support separatist forces in eastern Ukraine against the central government, a policy that it has maintained in the past seven years.

For the second time in 2021, Moscow concentrated significant military troops in and around Ukraine in November.

The EU has been applying restrictive measures in response to the Ukrainian crisis since 2014.