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European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR)
News article22 May 2023Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations1 min read

President von der Leyen at G7 Session II - "Ukraine"

President von der Leyen at G7 Session II - "Ukraine"

Quotes from President von der Leyen at the second session of the G7 Summit, on Ukraine.

We all want an end to this war. The Ukrainians most of all want peace – but a just peace of course. Peace negotiations that equate the aggressor and the victim must be rejected. We should support the efforts of President Zelenskyy to gather support to his Peace Formula.

We need to match Ukrainian determination with our own endurance and stamina. We need to give Ukraine the tools now to successfully defend itself and regain full sovereignty and territorial integrity. We should provide Ukraine the necessary military and financial support. And we have to do this as long as it takes.

The European Commission just proposed an ammunition production act. We want to push our defence industry to ramp up production of badly needed artillery shells. And we will provide provide greater financial support for additional production for Ukraine.

And we must continue to provide them with economic and financial support. The G7 Coordination Platform we jointly created earlier this year helped closing Ukraine's budgetary gap for 2023. But we also need together to agree on stable financial support beyond 2023.

Together, we have put a high price tag on Russia's aggression. The EU alone banned nearly 55% of pre-war exports to Russia (= 50 bn EUR per year) and more than 60% of pre-war imports (= 90 bn), to deprive Moscow of advanced goods and tech, and to cut its vital revenue streams.

But there is more and more circumvention of our massive sanctions. It's quite extraordinary to see the trade data and evidence on the ground. High tech exports to third countries, from micro-processors and sensors for Russian cruise missiles to chips in military communications equipment, make their way onwards to Russia and end up in weapons used against Ukraine on the battlefield. We must put a stop to this. Our new EU-measures will therefore target circumvention or evasion by operators in these and other countries.