According to Welt am Sonntag, the European Union has reached an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine, which include political, military, and economic aid, the media reported. Journalists from the German newspaper had access to the text agreed upon by EU ambassadors.
EU ambassadors agreed upon the text of an agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine
The European External Action Service and the Ukrainian government are currently finalizing the draft agreement. The European External Action Service and the Ukrainian government have scheduled it to come into force before July, and it will remain effective until Ukraine joins the European Union and NATO.
In the event of new attacks on Ukraine, the agreement stipulates that Kyiv will receive immediate consultations from the EU, provided that both parties pre-approve these consultations. However, the agreement indirectly excludes the direct participation of European soldiers alongside the Ukrainian army in repelling assaults.
Brussels also promises to provide additional lethal and non-lethal weapons, military training, assistance with security force reform, demining activities, partnership in countering hybrid threats and cyberattacks, and comprehensive support for infrastructure repair in Ukraine.
Calls to use European air defense systems to shoot down Russian drones over Ukraine
According to the German daily FAZ, NATO countries are being asked to help shoot down drones over Ukraine in order to reduce the burden on Ukrainian air defense.
Experts at the Munich Security Conference, including Niko Lange and former assistant NATO Secretary General Horst-Heinrich Braus, believe that placing air defense systems in the EU countries could create “a secure zone up to 70 kilometers wide” on Ukraine’s borders with Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
Politicians endorsed a proposal put forward by military expert Nico Lange from the Munich Security Conference. Several German political parties, including the ruling Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens, back this proposal. They say that involving neighboring nations’ air defense systems will benefit Ukraine without openly engaging NATO members in the battle.
One of the supporters, CDU defense politician Roderich Kiesewetter, compared possible support for Ukraine with the support provided to Israel by the USA, the UK, and France, among others, to fend off a major Iranian air attack on the country in April.
Why does Ukraine need more advanced air defense systems?
An FDP member of parliament, Marcus Faber, Green parliamentary group vice-chair Agnieszka Brugger, and her parliamentary group colleague Anton Hofreiter, who chairs the Europe Committee in the Bundestag, also expressed their support for NATO support for Ukraine’s air defense, FAZ reported.
However, Ukraine is still suffering from Russian bombing. Putin’s troops use the tactics of massive air strikes and combined attacks with attack drones and missiles of various types. Thus, the Russians are overloading Ukraine’s air defense system.
Ukrainian air defenses shoot down most of Moscow’s missiles, including hypersonic “Kinzhals.” However, due to the overload of massive air defense strikes, some of them reach their targets and destroy infrastructure and residential buildings in Ukrainian cities. This year, thermal power plants and other energy infrastructure have become the main targets of Russian invaders.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have received many advanced medium- and long-range air defense systems from Western allies. However, more is needed to repel massive attacks and close the sky over Ukraine to Russian missiles.
