West acting out of self-interest in Ukraine: Borrell
3 Min Read
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the West is not supporting Ukraine out of sheer love for its people, but rather for its own interests.
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European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Luxembourg, Monday, October 12, 2020. (AP)
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell told CNN on Monday that the US and EU are supporting Ukraine in favor of their geopolitical interests and not for their love of the Ukrainian people.
During his appearance on Christiane Amanpour's show, Borrell reiterated Brussels and Washington's assertion that Ukraine had no involvement in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow. He further urged the US to approve a $60 billion aid package for Kiev.
“You know, the US has a vested interest in supporting Ukraine. Otherwise, we would be giving a free pass to Russia. And you know what happens then. Remember Crimea. Remember Syria,” he told Amanpour, with no further explanation on what he meant.
“We cannot afford Russia [to] win this war. Otherwise, the US and European interests will be very damaged,” he added. “It’s not a matter of generosity alone, it’s not a matter of supporting Ukraine because we love Ukrainian people. It is in our own interests and it is also in the interests of the US as a global player, someone who has to be perceived as a reliable partner, a security provider to the allies.”
The proposal to allocate over $60 billion in additional military aid to Ukraine has remained gridlocked in the US Congress for months. Despite Russian warnings about the potential for escalating confrontation, Washington and its allies have already supplied Kiev with over $200 billion worth of weapons, ammunition, and equipment since February 2022, maintaining that this support does not align them as a party to the conflict.
US, EU stress Ukraine not complicit in terror attack
Both the US and EU stressed that Ukraine was not an accomplice to the recent terrorist attack at the Moscow concert venue on Friday, where over 130 people were killed by armed gunmen.
Russia's FSB security service told President Vladimir Putin that 11 people had been detained following Friday's deadly attack near Moscow, including four people directly involved, Interfax cited the Kremlin as saying on Saturday. It said FSB security service chief Alexander Bortnikov had reported to Putin that those detained included "four terrorists" and that the service was working to identify their accomplices.
Meanwhile, Interfax quoted the FSB security service as saying that four suspects directly involved in the deadly attack near Moscow on Friday were heading toward Russia's border with Ukraine when they were apprehended early on Saturday.
They had contacts on the Ukrainian side, the security service confirmed, adding that the attack had been carefully planned and the perpetrators had weapons prepared in advance in a cache.
