Russia-Ukraine war: EU says world must continue to support Ukraine as troops prepare for winter

The European Union’s foreign policy chief said that support for Ukraine must continue as the war moves toward its ninth month this year. The bloc’s top diplomat’s comments come as Ukrainian forces are gearing up for fighting in the winter months.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 ministers in Muenster, Germany, on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell stressed the need for continued support for Ukraine from international partners. Borrell said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was counting on the winter months to be in favor of Russia.

“The winter is coming. Putin is waiting for the ‘General Winter’ to come and support the Russian army,” said Borrell. “Now more than ever, we have to support Ukraine, the Ukrainian people. They are fighting, defending their country, and we have the moral duty to support them.”

Borrell said that Russia is resorting to bombarding Ukraine’s civil infrastructure as it has failed to make gains on the ground against the counter-attack by Ukrainian troops.

“Putin’s Russia is destroying Ukraine. They cannot occupy it, they cannot win on the battlefield, they cannot win the war – and they are destroying the country systematically,” said Borrell.

In recent weeks, Moscow has accused Kyiv of producing a “dirty bomb,” which the West and Ukraine dismissed. Kyiv has requested the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to inspect the sites that Moscow has alleged where the bombs are being assembled, and the report on the findings was issued Thursday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in its report that there was no sign of undeclared nuclear activity at the three sites it has inspected in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lauded the report in his video address.

In his remarks, Zelenskyy said that “the only dirty things in our region right now are the heads of those in Moscow, who, unfortunately, seized control of the Russian state and are terrorizing Ukraine and the whole world.”

Ukrainian and Western officials have dismissed the accusations, saying that Russia was trying to distract attention as Moscow itself was preparing to detonate a dirty bomb to blame on Kyiv.