EU will deepen economic and political ties with Ukraine amid crisis - Michel

Amid the Russian threat and security challenges facing Europe as a result of Russia's military build-up along Ukraine's borders, the European Union intends to further deepen economic and political rapprochement with Ukraine, including by holding a donors conference to support its economy.

European Council President Charles Michel said this at the Munich Security Conference on Sunday, February 20, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The Russian goal of weakening Western and European support for Ukraine is a miscalculation because it only galvanizes our resolve. In the very short term we have decided to mobilize EUR 1.2 billion of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, and I have proposed to launch an international donors conference in order to shore up the macro-economic stability of Ukraine and to support their economic reforms. But in my opinion we should also deepen the political and economic rapprochement with Ukraine, together with the European Union," Michel said.

However, he did not give a direct answer to the direct question of former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, whether the EU should offer Ukraine some kind of emergency invitation to start membership talks with the EU to support the morale of the Ukrainian people facing the threat of war and will also demonstrate that Russian President Vladimir Putin that his strategy is backfiring.

"If we want to be smart in our geopolitical ambitions, we need to act in exactly this way so as to make sure that Russia's attempts at destabilization backfire. I personally don't need Russian aggression to push work on our Eastern Partnership. Of course, we can do more in our cooperation with Ukraine, we can strengthen our economic ties with the country, push their willingness to reform in Ukraine," Michel said.

He stressed that the events of the past few days are pushing the EU to take meaningful steps to do "as much as we can" for Ukraine - to support its territorial integrity and the country's economy.

"We are going to hold an international donors conference for Ukraine, because the current events have devastating economic effects on the country. It is difficult now for investors to invest in the country and that, of course, leads to economic instability. So you can be sure that we will support Ukraine, together with the member states, and we will strengthen our ties," Michel added.

op