The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Russia does not intend on negotiating soon as it still seeks to win the war it has waged on Ukraine. The bloc’s top diplomat also said that he was not too “optimistic” about what may happen in the coming summer months.
At an event in Barcelona on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Moscow does not plan on entering any peace negotiations soon as it is still trying to win the war. Borrell reiterated Russia’s repeated signaling that it will not end its war in Ukraine until it has achieved its goals.
“I see a concentration of troops on both sides, the clear will of Russia to try to win the war,” said Borrell during the event, and that Moscow “will not go to a negotiation until it has tried to win the war.”
“I’m afraid that between now and the summer, the war is going to continue. Putin has amassed over 300,000 men there, twice as many as he had when he launched the invasion,” Borrell told reporters after the event. Borrell added that Russia maintains a large military presence in Ukraine and that it has continued to bomb Ukraine every day and destroy its civilian infrastructure.
Borrell reiterated the continued need to support Ukraine’s war effort as Ukraine may not be able to defend itself without support from its allies and partners.
Borrell’s comments came on the same day Russia claimed its military hit air bases in Ukraine while Ukraine shelled industrial facilities inside Russia, with both sides looking to gain the upper hand.
Also on Monday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak suggested that a demilitarized zone be established within Russia to protect frontline regions from future attacks. Podolyak suggested that the demilitarized zone be between 100 to 120 kilometers wide and cover the Russian regions of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Rostov to protect Ukraine’s border regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Chernihiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv.
The topic of a demilitarized zone would be part of a post-war settlement, according to Podolyak, which would prevent future attacks from happening in the region again.
Photo: European Parliament/Wikimedia Commons(CC by 2.0)