Ukraine brushes off US, Slovakia wobbles as EU ministers convene in Kyiv

KYIV – European Union foreign ministers held their first meeting outside the bloc in Ukraine on Monday in a show of support for the country, after a pro-Russia candidate won an election in Slovakia and the United States Congress omitted funding for Kyiv in a spending Bill.

Kyiv brushed off the wobbles on both sides of the Atlantic, especially the prospect that the US congressional vote, which excluded aid to Ukraine from an emergency Bill to prevent a government shutdown, represented a deeper change in policy.

“We don’t feel that the US support has been shattered... because the United States understands that what is at stake in Ukraine is much bigger than just Ukraine,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters as he greeted EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

As for the election victory in Slovakia of pro-Russia former prime minister Robert Fico, Mr Kuleba said it was “too early to judge” the impact on politics there, noting that a new leader would still have to form a coalition.

Monday’s meeting in Kyiv was touted by Mr Borrell as a historic first, and provided striking photo opportunities for a succession of ministers in front of EU flags in the wartime capital.

But it comes at an awkward time for the Western alliance that has supported Kyiv. Summer is coming to a close after a slower-than-expected Ukrainian military counter-offensive, without the major success that Western leaders have hoped to see before autumn mud clogs the treads of their donated tanks.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for efforts to prepare Ukraine for the coming winter, including through air defence and guaranteed energy supplies, after Russia bombed Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in 2022.

“Last winter, we saw the brutal way in which the Russian President is waging this war,” said Ms Baerbock. “We must prevent this together with everything we have, as far as possible.”

Moscow touted the congressional vote in the US as a sign of increasing division in the West, although it also expects Washington to continue its support for Kyiv.

The vote omitting aids funds was “a temporary phenomenon”, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “America will continue its involvement in this conflict, in fact direct involvement.”

“But we have repeatedly said before that, according to our forecasts, fatigue from this conflict, fatigue from the completely absurd sponsorship of the Kyiv regime, will grow in various countries, including the US,” he added.

Elections are looming in several Western countries, above all next year in the US, where former president Donald Trump is leading the Republican field in his bid to return to the White House.

Several high-profile, right-wing Trump supporters in Congress have called for a halt to Ukraine aid.

President Joe Biden’s administration says it expects the Republican-controlled House of Representatives to pass a measure to keep the aid flowing.

Mr Biden on Sunday pressed congressional Republicans to back the aid, saying he was “sick and tired” of the political brinkmanship that nearly closed the government down.

In Europe, Mr Fico won the most votes in an election in Slovakia on Sunday and will get a first chance to form a government.

His campaign has called for “not a single round” of ammunition from Slovakia’s reserves to be sent to Ukraine.

“We are not changing that we are prepared to help Ukraine in a humanitarian way,” Mr Fico said at a news conference after his victory. “We are prepared to help with the reconstruction of the state, but you know our opinion on arming Ukraine.”

Slovakia, a Nato state that shares a small border with Ukraine, has taken in refugees and, under the outgoing government, has provided a disproportionately major supply of weapons, notably being among the first to send fighter jets.

The EU has so far managed to maintain its firm pro-Ukraine stance despite pressure from Hungary, where nationalist leader Viktor Orban regularly denounces sanctions on Moscow.

To form a government, Mr Fico would have to establish a coalition with at least one other party that does not publicly share his position on Ukraine. REUTERS