The bloc is “in the game” but “not part of the war”, says Josep Borrell

The European Union is directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which will determine its geopolitical future, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said.

Borrell spoke on a panel on EU enlargement during the ‘Quo Vadis Europa?’ seminar in Santander, Spain. The annual event has been hosted by the Menendez y Pelayo International University (UIMP) since 2013.

“What happens in Ukraine will determine the geopolitical future of Europe,” Borrell said at one point during Friday’s discussion.

“We should think about Ukraine when we become participants in the game. We are part of this game. We are not part of the war, but we are part of the conflict, and how this conflict is resolved will affect peace and our security,” he added.

The former Spanish foreign minister has served as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy since December 2019.

🇺🇦🇷🇺🇪🇺 “What will happen to Ukraine will also determine our geopolitical future. We have to think about Ukraine by putting ourselves in the game. We are part of the game, not part of the war, but part of the conflict” – BorrellHigh stakes for these idiots photo.twitter.com/EsTNpktTZJ

— Mr. Bebo (@MyLordBebo) August 23, 2024

Borrell had already endorsed the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian Kursk region, called it “a heavy blow to the Russian president [Vladimir] Putin’s narrative”, and urged the West to lift all restrictions on Kiev’s use of weapons, as this “help promote peace efforts.”

Russia has repeatedly accused the US and its allies of overt involvement in the conflict, but the collective West has always insisted that providing Ukraine with more than $100 billion in cash, weapons, ammunition and equipment — while also seizing Russian assets and imposing sweeping economic sanctions — does not, in fact, make it a party to the hostilities.

Borrell has a history of articulating the claim that the EU has been using Ukraine as a proxy against Russia. In Aprilhe told the World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia that “Europeans will not die for Donbass”, but they are committed to financing the Ukrainians indefinitely.

In March, he told CNN that US and EU involvement is “it is not a question of supporting Ukraine because we love the Ukrainian people”, but in the interest of the US “as a global actor, someone who has to be perceived as a reliable partner, a security provider for allies.”

Putin described the Western stance as cynical, accusing the US and its allies of wanting to fight Russia. “to the last Ukrainian.”