Meeting takes place amid concerns over cracks in US funding and after a pro-Russian populist party won the most votes Slovakia’s election
A Ukrainian victory in the war with Russia depends on cooperation with the EU, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told EU foreign ministers gathered in Kyiv on Monday.
Zelenskiy, who was speaking after the US Congress left Ukraine war aid out of a spending bill, also underlined the importance of “defence support” for Ukraine during the war, Reuters reports.
That’s it for our Ukraine coverage today. Here is a summary of the main events:
Russian shelling of Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson overnight killed at least two people and injured more than 10, including two children and a police officer, the regional governor said on Monday. Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram that Russian forces had launched 71 attacks in the past 24 hours that were “aimed at the residential districts” as well as shops and medical infrastructure, among other establishments. Twenty of the air and land attacks targeted the city of Kherson, the region’s administrative district, the governor added. Authorities put out a fire caused by shelling early on Monday, he said.
The Kremlin said on Monday it believed that fatigue with the Ukraine war would grow in the US and Europe, but that Washington would continue to be directly involved in the conflict. The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, was commenting on a US Congress decision to pass a stopgap funding bill that omitted aid for Kyiv.
A Ukrainian victory in the war with Russia depends on cooperation with the EU, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told EU foreign ministers gathered in Kyiv on Monday. Zelenskiy, who was speaking after the US Congress left Ukraine war aid out of a spending bill, also underlined the importance of “defence support” for Ukraine during the war, Reuters reports.
The EU has proposed a “bilateral envelope” worth €5bn for Ukraine’s defence as part of the existing European peace facility, its chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a press conference in Kyiv after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers, Lisa O’Carroll reports.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan is “the only game in town” the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said at a press conference of EU-Ukraine foreign ministers’ meeting in Kyiv today. The meeting of the EU foreign ministers was “sending a strong message to Russia that we are not intimidated by your missiles or your drones”.
Ukraine is hoping for membership of the EU within two years but the EU must also take some big decisions before it is ready to accept any new country. The biggest decision, EU diplomats say, will relate to the budget – allowing a country of Ukraine’s size into the bloc will require a vastly increased budget with many member states expected to go from net beneficiaries to net contributors.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s parliament and its speaker taunted Elon Musk on Monday after the billionaire businessman posted a meme on his social media platform mocking the president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s pleas for wartime assistance from the west.
The EU’s chief diplomat has rejected suggestions that Ukraine’s membership of the bloc could be phased in over a number of years. Speaking in Kyiv after a surprise meeting of the EU foreign ministers Josep Borrell said membership of the EU was all or nothing, reflecting a growing school of thought among diplomats.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on Monday panned US military spending on Ukraine as “irrational”, stepping up criticism of the war effort as he urged Washington to devote more resources to helping Latin American countries.
The White House has been in touch with allies and partners about continued funding for Ukraine and those conversations will continue, the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday. Congress passed a stopgap bill on Saturday that extended government funding for more than a month and avoided a government shutdown but did not contain any new aid for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Thanks for following the blog. You can read more of our coverage of the war here.
The White House has been in touch with allies and partners about continued funding for Ukraine and those conversations will continue, the White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday.
Congress passed a stopgap bill on Saturday that extended government funding for more than a month and avoided a government shutdown but did not contain any new aid for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, on Monday panned US military spending on Ukraine as “irrational”, stepping up criticism of the war effort as he urged Washington to devote more resources to helping Latin American countries.
López Obrador has long called on the US to devote more funds to helping economic development in Central America and the Caribbean in order to ease migratory pressures.
During his regular daily press conference, López Obrador criticised the US Congress for not freeing up money for the region, before making reference to wrangling last week on a stopgap funding bill that stripped out further aid for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
He said:
I was just looking at how now they’re not authorising aid for the war in Ukraine.
But how much have they destined for the Ukraine war? $30-50bn for the war. Which is the most irrational thing you can have. And damaging.
The Ukrainian foreign minister said the Kremlin was funnelling resources towards creating divisions among Kyiv’s allies and urged them to unite in the face of pressure from Russia.
Dmytro Kuleba spoke after a historic first meeting of EU foreign ministers beyond the bloc’s borders, as disagreements over support for Ukraine have grown.
During a press conference with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Kuleba said:
[Vladimir] Putin’s greatest expectation is precisely that the West and the world will tire of standing on the side of Ukraine in this war. Russia is directing huge resources to this.
We should not play along with them.
Today’s visit is not about symbolism … it is a concrete tool to counter narratives about a so-called lack of unity,” he added.
Kuleba also called on the EU’s support to resume regular exports through the Black Sea.
Ukraine has been pushing for support for a naval route since Moscow scrapped a deal in July guaranteeing safe passage of grain exports in the Black Sea, AFP reports.
If the EU and Ukraine join forces to guarantee the security of this corridor, then this corridor will be able to work at full capacity.
He did not specify what support he was seeking from Brussels.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, spoke at the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Kyiv, where Borrell reiterated the EU’s continuing support for Ukraine.
The EU’s chief diplomat has rejected suggestions that Ukraine’s membership of the bloc could be phased in over a number of years.
Speaking in Kyiv after a surprise meeting of the EU foreign ministers Josep Borrell said membership of the EU was all or nothing, reflecting a growing school of thought among diplomats.
Some, including the president of the European parliament, Roberta Metsola, have suggested that one option would be to allow Ukraine entry to the single market before full membership, which can take years to achieve.
“What is this talk about partial membership? Half membership 25% membership? Membership is membership. Full stop. Do you want me to repeat it? Membership is membership full stop,” he said.
Borrell added that he proposed to Ukraine a new bilateral multi-annual envelope of the European peace facility of up to €5bn ($5.26bn) for the next year.
“I hope we can reach an agreement before the end of the year,” he also said at a joint press briefing in Kyiv, Ukraine, with Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kaluba, Reuters reports.
At least two people were killed and 10 wounded in the latest Russian shelling of Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson, according to regional officials, as the death and casualty toll rise.
The Regional governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram that Russian forces overnight had pounded residential areas, shops, medical infrastructure and other infrastructure, Reuters reports.
One of the dead was a police officer killed in shelling on Monday morning, and children were among those wounded in overnight attacks on the regional capital, Kherson, he said.
These claims have not been independently verified.
Ukraine is hoping for membership of the EU within two years but the EU must also take some big decisions before it is ready to accept any new country.
The biggest decision, EU diplomats say, will relate to the budget – allowing a country of Ukraine’s size into the bloc – will require a vastly increased budget with many member states expected to go from net beneficiaries to net contributors.
The EU is expected to publish its first year report on Ukraine and Moldova’s process in early November, ahead of a meeting of EU leaders in December.
The EU remains united in its support for Ukraine, the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said at a press conference of EU-Ukraine foreign ministers’ meeting in Kyiv today.
Indicating the EU does not expect Slovakia or Poland to stop supporting the defence contribution to Ukraine, Borrell said:
I don’t see any member state faltering.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s 10-point peace plan is “the only game in town” the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said at a press conference of EU-Ukraine foreign ministers’ meeting in Kyiv today.
The meeting of the EU foreign ministers was “sending a strong message to Russia that we are not intimidated by your missiles or your drones”.
Zelenskiy’s plan involves no concession of Ukrainian territory to Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s parliament and its speaker taunted Elon Musk on Monday after the billionaire businessman posted a meme on his social media platform mocking the president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s pleas for wartime assistance from the west.
Musk owns SpaceX, which provides Starlink satellite communication services that are vital for Ukraine’s defence effort, but his statements have sometimes angered Kyiv since the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February last year, according to Reuters.
Early on Monday, Musk posted a meme on his platform X, formerly known as Twitter, showing Zelenskiy and the caption:
When it’s been 5 minutes and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid.
The speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, hit out at Musk’s jibe with his own post on X.
In an apparent reference to SpaceX’s failed rocket launch in April, he said:
The case when … [Elon Musk] tried to conquer space, but something went wrong and in 5 minutes he was up to his eyeballs in shit.
Ukraine’s parliament, on its official page on X, accused Musk of spreading Russian propaganda, posting its own version of the meme with a picture of Musk and the caption:
When it’s been 5 minutes and you haven’t spread Russian propaganda.
The EU has proposed a “bilateral envelope” worth €5bn for Ukraine’s defence as part of the existing European peace facility, its chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said at a press conference in Kyiv after an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers.
It would be in addition to funds EU countries are poised to discuss as part of the wider talks on the overall budget from now until 2027.
Borrell also announced:
Plans to train 40,000 people in the coming months, including fighter jet pilots.
An aim to increase resilience, cyber-defence and defence.
A reminder that some of Europe’s top diplomats are gathered in Kyiv in a display of support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion as signs emerge of political strain in Europe and the US over the war.
EU foreign ministers converged on the Ukrainian capital for an unannounced informal meeting that officials said would review the bloc’s support for Ukraine and discuss a peace formula proposed by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said the foreign ministers’ first joint meeting outside EU borders signalled that the 27-nation bloc’s support is “unwavering” and underscored the EU’s commitment to Ukraine.
The US, the EU and the UK have provided massive military and financial support to Ukraine, enabling it to stand up to the Kremlin’s attack. The assistance is crucial for Ukraine’s weakened economy and has so far been open-ended.
But uncertainty has set in over how long Kyiv’s allies will keep sending it aid worth billions of dollars and euros.
A Ukrainian victory in the war with Russia depends on cooperation with the EU, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, told EU foreign ministers gathered in Kyiv on Monday.
Zelenskiy, who was speaking after the US Congress left Ukraine war aid out of a spending bill, also underlined the importance of “defence support” for Ukraine during the war, Reuters reports.
The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, called for the creation of a strategy to insulate Ukraine from the fallout of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid this winter.
Baerbock told reporters in Kyiv:
Ukraine needs a winter protection plan of air defence, generators and a strengthening of the energy supply.
We saw last winter the brutal way in which the Russian president wages this war, with targeted attacks on critical infrastructure such as power plants.
German exports of military equipment to Ukraine have grown more than fourfold so far this year, making Kyiv the main recipient of German arms, the economy ministry said on Monday.
Ukraine accounted for €3.3bn (£2.86.bn) of Germany’s total value of authorised military exports of €8.76bn in the first nine months of the year.
By contrast, for the same period last year, €775m worth of equipment had been approved for Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Here are some images from the wires of health workers, volunteers and military personnel at a joint training for war zones in Aksaysky district in Rostov oblast, Russia.
Russia-Ukraine war: Ukrainian victory depends on cooperation with Europe, Zelenskiy tells EU foreign ministers in Kyiv – as it happened – The Guardian
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