BRUSSELS (AP) – The European Union on Sunday agreed to close its airspace to Russian airlines, spend hundreds of millions of euros on arms purchases for Ukraine and ban some pro-Kremlin media in its latest response to the Russian invasion, EU officials said.
This and Germany’s statement earlier in the day that it would almost triple its defense budget this year underscored how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is rewriting European security and defense policy after World War II in ways that were unthinkable just a few weeks ago.
In what he described as a “defining moment in European history”, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc’s 27 foreign ministers had given the green light to unprecedented support for Ukraine and that these actions would go hand in hand. strength up to hours.
“We have decided to use our capacity to provide lethal weapons, lethal aid to the Ukrainian army worth 450 million (EUR) (502 million dollars) … and another 50 million (56 million dollars) for non-lethal supplies, fuel, protective equipment “Borel told reporters.
Borrell said EU defense ministers would discuss on Monday how to turn the funds into useful military material and ensure that they reach the Ukrainian armed forces. He said Poland had agreed to act as a center for the proliferation of weapons and equipment.
EU ministers also agreed to add a few more people and organizations to the growing list of sanctions. Among them were Russian oligarchs, whose money, Borel said, is important to the Russian economy, as well as other key officials, especially those who spread misinformation. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have already frozen their assets in Europe.
In a separate statement, the German leader said the country would set aside 100 billion euros ($ 113 billion) for a special fund for the armed forces and would maintain its defense spending above NATO’s 2% of GDP target.
Meanwhile, anti-war protesters took to the streets of Berlin, Rome, Prague, Istanbul and elsewhere – even Russian cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg and a dozen Belarusian cities – to demand an end to the war, the continent’s largest land offensive since World War II.
According to the rights group OVD-Info, Russian police detained at least 2,063 Russians in 48 cities during anti-war demonstrations on Sunday. Human rights activists say more than 170 people have been arrested during protests in Belarus. In Minsk, a large pile of flowers continued to grow in front of the Ukrainian embassy.
Tens of thousands gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Sunday, some carrying placards with slogans such as “Hands off Ukraine”, “Windmill tanks” and “Putin, go to therapy and leave Ukraine and the world alone”.
The EU’s weapons financing plan will help purchase air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, ammunition and other military equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces. It will also supply items such as fuel, protective equipment, helmets and first aid kits.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that in addition to arms purchases, EU countries would close European airspace to Russians.
“We propose a ban on all Russian aircraft registered or controlled by Russia. “These planes will no longer be able to land, take off or fly over EU territory,” she said.
She said the EU would also ban the Kremlin’s media machine. The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries, will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin’s war and sow division in our union.
Von der Layen added that the EU will also turn to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to support Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.
“We will hit the Lukashenko regime with a new package of sanctions,” she said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s announcement of new defense funding is crucial for Germany, which has been criticized by the United States and other NATO allies for failing to invest adequately in its defense budget.
“It is clear that we need to invest significantly more in the security of our country in order to protect our freedom and our democracy,” Scholz said at a special session of the Bundestag in Berlin.
Scholz said the € 100 billion ($ 113 billion) fund is currently a one-off measure for 2022. However, Scholz said Germany would exceed the 2% of GDP threshold in the future, signaling an overall future increase in defense spending. .
A day earlier, Germany announced another major policy change, saying it would send weapons and other supplies directly to Ukraine, including 500 Stinger missiles used to shoot down helicopters and fighter jets, and 1,000 anti-tank weapons.
Israel has announced that it is sending 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid – medical equipment and medicines, tents, sleeping bags and blankets – to help civilians in Ukraine. Israel has also offered itself as a potential mediator during a telephone conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Putin, the Kremlin and Israel said. Bennett also spoke on Friday with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who is Jewish.
As Greece sent more military aid, Turkish authorities called Russia’s invasion a “war,” a categorization that could cause Ankara to close Turkish straits to Russian warships, which Ukraine requested earlier this week. The Montreux Convention of 1936 gave Turkey the right to ban “warring states” from using the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus during war, but provided an exception for the return of Black Sea ships to port.
On the sanctions front, Japan has joined the United States and European countries in cutting key Russian banks out of the international financial banking system SWIFT. Japan will also freeze the assets of Putin and other senior Russian officials, while sending $ 100 million in emergency humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters.
Meanwhile, Catholic and Orthodox religious leaders prayed for peace on Sunday, expressed solidarity with Ukrainians and condemned the Russian invasion.
In the Vatican, Ukrainian flags fluttered in St. Peter’s Square as Pope Francis delivered his weekly Sunday blessing and called for global solidarity for the “suffering people of Ukraine.”
“Those who make war forget humanity,” Francis said. He refrained from quoting Russia by name, in clear respect for his hopes of maintaining a dialogue open with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Also Sunday, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople described Russia’s invasion as “beyond all sense of law and morality” and called for an end to the war.
Patriarch Bartholomew is considered a spiritual leader and the first among equals of Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world. He gave independence to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which separated it in 2019 from the Russian Church, with which it had been bound since 1686. As a result, the Russian Orthodox Church severed ties with it.
Schultays contributed from Vienna, Austria. Nicole Winfield in Rome, Joseph Federman in Kiev, Ukraine contributed.
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