Agnes Szucs
04 January 2022•Update: 04 January 2022
BRUSSELS
Ahead of his visit to Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Tuesday held a phone talk with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the EU diplomatic service announced on Tuesday.
Borrell and Stoltenberg discussed the Russian military buildup in and around Ukraine, as well as the two draft treaties on the European security arrangement proposed by Moscow.
According to the EU statement, Borrell reaffirmed the EU’s support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and stressed the need for Russia to de-escalate and to respect the Minsk agreements meant to establish peace in the conflict of eastern Ukraine.
Regarding the upcoming NATO-Russia Council meeting, he “underlined that any discussion on security in Europe should build on and strengthen OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and UN commitments and obligations,” the document added.
On Jan. 4-6, Borrell will visit Ukraine to show support with Kyiv in the face of the Russian threat.
During his trip, the EU official will first visit eastern Ukraine and the line of contact before holding talks with Ukrainian officials.
The visit comes ahead of a series of key diplomatic events between international partners and Russia.
On Jan. 9-10, US and Russian delegations led by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov will meet in Geneva.
On Jan. 12, the NATO-Russia Council will convene for the first time since NATO suspended in 2014 all practical cooperation with Moscow because of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine.
On Jan. 13, Russian officials will hold talks with representatives of the OSCE.
Russia’s continued military buildup in and around Ukraine caused high tensions last year between Russia and the members of NATO and the EU.
In order to normalize relations, Russia proposed two draft agreements on European security guarantees to the US and NATO last month.
