EU foreign ministers support Ukraine's territorial integrity

The foreign ministers of the European Union (EU) countries have expressed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity. This was confirmed by a statement published on the website of the German Foreign Ministry on 12 February.

Among the member states of the association, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain and the UK were mentioned. The European External Action Service and the European Commission also took part in drafting the statement.

"We are ready to strengthen our support for Ukraine. We are committed to protecting its independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity," the publication reads.

The ministries also expressed their readiness to support Kiev until a "just, comprehensive and lasting peace" is achieved. In addition, the EU pointed to the need to provide Ukraine with reliable security guarantees.

Sense of contact: Putin and Trump agree on diplomatic solution to Ukraine crisis

In an hour and a half, they also discussed prisoner exchanges, the situation in the Middle East and the Iran nuclear deal

On 12 February, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that there were signals from Ukraine that it was ready to make territorial concessions in order to settle the conflict. At the same time, he expressed doubts about the possibility of presenting a comprehensive plan for peace or a cease-fire at the Munich Security Conference on February 14-16.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that day that returning Ukraine to its 2014 borders was an unrealistic goal. Back in early January, it was reported that US President Donald Trump would be forced to agree to large territorial concessions from Kiev for the sake of ending the Ukrainian conflict.

On February 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (his term of office expired on May 20, 2024) said that he expects the start of negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian conflict with the participation of Moscow, Kiev, Washington and Brussels. For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said that the Russian Federation viewed the Ukrainian leader's words as empty.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid the Russian Federation's special operation to protect Donbas, the launch of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.