There are no signs Putin is willing to stop war on Ukraine - Borrell

The Guardian reported the information.

Josep Borrell said that the European parliamentary elections in June could be as crucial as the US presidential race in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine.

He stressed that this war also threatens the future of the EU, adding that he fears Ukraine's defeat if there is no quick change of course.

Borrell said that he sees no signs that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is ready to stop or even agree to a deal that would allow Russia to keep eastern Ukraine.

He also warned that the existence of the EU is at stake in Ukraine.

“If we don’t change course rapidly, if we don’t mobilise all our capacities, it will let Putin win the war in Ukraine," the MEP said. "Putin cannot be satisfied with a piece of Ukraine and to let the rest of Ukraine belong to the European Union, but he cannot be satisfied with a limited territorial victory. He will not give up the war, especially not before the American election, which may present him with a much more favourable scenario. So we must prepare for a conflict of high intensity for a long time."

According to him, "Putin has decided to continue the war until the final victory".

"[Russia’s] success is dependent on bringing to the battlefield as many people as they can. They have at this time the greatest number of deaths, of casualties in the battlefield, in the presence of the human reserve. There were 150,000 people massed on the Ukrainian border in February. There are 450,000 now so three times more," Borrell said.

According to the MEP, "Russia has never been able to become a nation. It was always an empire with the tsar, with the Soviets, and now with Putin. It is a constant of Russia, and its political identity, and as a result a threat to his neighbours – and particularly to us."

• The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that on Monday, 11 December, EU foreign ministers would discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, and later options would be submitted to the summit of European leaders.