Support for Ukraine, EU Foreign Ministers meet in Kiev

The foreign ministers of the European Union are holding a meeting in Kiev, as a sign of support for Ukraine, the chief diplomat of the European bloc, Josep Borell, said on Monday.

It has already been 19 months since Russia started the war in Ukraine.

"Today, the EU's foreign ministers are meeting in Kiev, for the first time ever all 27 ministers are meeting outside the EU", said Borell on X - the platform previously known as Twitter.

"The future of Ukraine is within the EU", he said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the message of the meeting is that the EU is expanding through Ukraine and that Ukrainians are very grateful.

"This historic meeting" was held outside the current borders of the EU, but within the borders of the EU in the future.

This meeting has not been made public in advance for security reasons.

One of the topics on the agenda of the meeting is Borrell's proposal to make commitments for military aid to be allocated to Ukraine.

Borrell wants to allocate 5 billion euros as annual aid to Ukraine in the period 2024-2027, although the ministers are not expected to take this decision in Kiev.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the war a "special military operation" to demilitarize Ukraine.

The West has responded to Russia, hitting the economy of this country with harsh sanctions.

As a result of the war, thousands of people have died and millions more have been displaced from their homes. /Rel