UKRAINE WAR EU
expressed concern at the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and called for an immediate end to violence. The two leaders noted increasing policy convergence on the Indo-pacific and exchanged views on regional and global issues such as the situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar and cooperation at the WTO and G20.
While addressing the Raisina Dialogue, Von der Leyen urged the international community to support Europe’s efforts for lasting peace in Ukraine, including sanctions designed to be sustained over a longer period of time to provide leverage to achieve a diplomatic solution.
“In Europe, we see Russia’s aggression as a direct threat to our security. We will make sure that the unprovoked and unjustified aggression against Ukraine will be a strategic failure,” she told an audience that included Modi, EAM S Jaishankar, foreign ministers of more than a dozen countries and ambassadors.
“This is why we are doing all we can to help Ukraine fight for its freedom. This is why we immediately imposed massive, sharp and effective sanctions,” she added. India has refrained from publicly censuring the Russian invasion of Ukraine but has called for respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. Von der Leyen said the “response to Russia’s aggression today will decide the future of both the international system and the global economy”.
The EU will continue to encourage China to play its part in a peaceful Indo-pacific region, she said, adding that the relationship between the 27-member bloc and Beijing is “simultaneously strategically important and challenging”. China is a “negotiating partner, an economic competitor and a systemic rival”, and the EU will continue multifaceted engagement, cooperate on tackling common challenges, and protect its essential interests, Von der Leyen said.
Without naming China or its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Von der Leyen said the need for massive economic investments had resulted in some countries being “forced to take unsustainable offers” and facing a situation “where they do not fully control their own infrastructure, be it seaports or airports, be it bridges or railways”.
Von der Leyen reiterated the EU’S commitment to work with