New York: The EU has once more ruled out the possibility of any peace negotiations with Russia that are not based on preserving Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as paying reparations and holding war criminals accountable.
According to Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, "this is the framing (within) which any discussion has to take place."
"How and when? I'm not sure. But I want to be clear that it is not us who are refusing to allow for negotiations at this point. We are open now and always will be.
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Borrell was speaking outside of a UN General Assembly emergency session commemorating the first anniversary of the beginning of the war in Ukraine, at which 193 of the member states voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting an EU resolution titled "UN Charter principles underlying a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine."
It differs from a Security Council resolution in that it lacks the legal backing of binding international law, but it might still exacerbate Russia's increasing isolation on the international stage.
The draught resolution, which has the support of about 60 nations, demands an end to hostilities as well as "immediate, complete, and unconditional" withdrawal of all Russian military forces from Ukraine. The UN's "commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Ukraine" is reiterated in the statement.
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As it has done in the past year for several other resolutions criticising Russia's actions, Kyiv was able to secure a sizable outpouring of support for the resolution among UN member states. Borrell, however, had no illusions about the likelihood that a swift end to the conflict would result from the most recent UN reprimand of Moscow.
He said, "Unfortunately, I fear that the war will go on. "However, I have no idea what will occur or when.
What I am aware of is that the Russians are increasing their troop encampments and their attacks on a daily basis. They massed 150,000 soldiers before the invasion; now, they have 300,000 soldiers on the front line, or twice as many as they did before.
Some analysts have urged the EU to persuade the Ukrainians to reach an agreement in which they hand over part of the occupied Donbas region to Russia in exchange for Moscow accepting Ukraine's admission to the EU, along with all the security guarantees that would come with that. They contend that the Ukrainian people have previously revolted and overthrown two domestic dictators in order to achieve EU membership, and that this is still their objective.
However, Borrell argued that given "the reality that we are facing," military assistance for Ukraine must continue, as must international economic sanctions against Russia and efforts to "diplomatically isolate Russia — that's what we're trying to do."
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On the other hand, we must stand by someone who is being attacked, he continued. On the other hand, we must not rule out the possibility of a truce and talks.
Which conditions? We've already stated that we respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty and call for accountability and war reparations.
"For us, this serves as the framework within which any discussion must occur. Additionally, we will be the first to start a conversation about this when the time is right.