Borrell urges to send battle tanks to Ukraine: "The war is going to be decided this spring and summer"

BRUSELAS, 15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has asked European countries on Wednesday to supply Ukraine with tanks, after warning that the war is entering a decisive phase and the dispute can be resolved "this spring and summer".

In an intervention before the European Parliament in Estasbourg, the head of European diplomacy has insisted that European military aid must not only continue but "increase". "I call on all the European countries that have modern and efficient battle tanks that accumulate dust in the barracks to give them to Ukraine," he said in front of the MEPs, insisting that the phase is entering a decisive phase.

"The war is going to be decided this spring and summer," he warned, asking for speed in the supply of weapons after regretting that Kiev's military allies have spent "a long time" discussing the issue of the Leopards while the Russian Army was preparing an offensive in the Donbas region.

In this sense, the High Representative has moved away from the scenario of an escalation of the conflict due to the shipment of Western tanks and has asked to reinforce these supplies. "They have been announced and there has been no world war," he has stated.

For Borrell, the military situation on the ground is "worrying" for Ukraine, as Russia now has 360,000 soldiers on Ukrainian soil, more than in previous phases of the war. The Ukrainian Army is now at a disadvantage in terms of troop numbers, he has warned, to underline that Europe's shipment of arms and ammunition is even more important.

At the same time that he has delved into the importance of getting tanks and ammunition to Ukraine, the head of community diplomacy has indicated that he will redouble diplomatic efforts to advance a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

"To win peace, first you have to win the war, and you can help Ukraine militarily and make the diplomatic efforts necessary for peace to arrive as soon as possible. They are not contradictory things," he defended.

In this sense, he has advanced that he will request the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, to lead a mediation process with Russia, although, from the outset, he has warned that up to now everyone who has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin , to stop the war "has failed".

In the middle of the debate on the increase in the military weight of Europe, Borrell has indicated that he is guided by "realism" and that the EU is not living a debate between "doves and hawks". "I don't have any warrior ardor but we do have to discuss how to achieve peace and for that we have to continue supporting Ukraine militarily, more than we have done up to now," he explained.

Everything to insist that the war in Eastern Europe has to be a "wake-up call" that its military capacity must be greater and have a "more powerful" defense industry.

In his opinion, Europe must prepare for a "long war" and must be ready for a "attrition" contest in which logistics and information will be key, at which point he has warned that it is in the interest of the Europeans act geopolitically because the same Wagner group that operates in the Donbas region is the one that poses a threat in other regions of interest to Europe such as the Sahel.