Kiev has the “full support” of the European Union in its incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region, the bloc’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said. The remarks mark his first comments addressing the Ukrainian cross-border attack.
Several thousand Ukrainian troops invaded the Russian border region last Tuesday, seizing a few villages before being stopped by Moscow's forces. The invaders have been reportedly been taking heavy casualties ever since.
“Discussed with [Ukrainian Foreign Minister] Dmitry Kuleba the last developments on the frontline and the Kursk counteroffensive [sic],” Borrell said on Tuesday. “I reiterated the EU's full support to the [Ukrainian] people’s fight.”
He also claimed that Russia “hasn’t managed to break [Ukrainian] resistance” and ended up being “pushed now to withdraw inside [Russian] territory.”
Until now, both the US and the EU have sidestepped inquiries about their role in Kiev’s offensive, saying that it was up to Ukraine how to use the weapons, equipment, and ammunition the West has provided.
While US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) has praised the incursion as “bold” and “beautiful,” Borrell’s comments appear to be the first open endorsement of it by a senior EU official.
Ukrainian troops interviewed by Western outlets have admitted that the goal of the incursion was to capture some territory that could be traded away in possible peace talks with Moscow, as well as to relieve pressure on the Donbass front. They also conceded that the second objective had failed, as the Russians were poised to take several key fortress towns in the coming days.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the Kursk incursion has only sped up the advances in the Donbass, while driving up military enlistments. He also ruled out any negotiations with “terrorists” who target civilians.
According to Aleksey Smirnov, acting governor of Kursk Region, at least 12 Russian civilians have been killed over the past week and another 121 injured, including ten children. Around 120,000 residents have been evacuated from the border area, he added.
The US and the EU have funneled billions of dollars worth of military and financial aid to Ukraine, while insisting that this did not make them party to the conflict with Russia and rejecting Moscow’s warnings that such behavior risked a direct confrontation.