Ensuring international law prevails, By Josep Borrell

History and justice are on Ukraine’s side. But to speed up history and achieve justice, we need to expand the ‘triple strategy’. We know this is a collective task. That is why the European Union relies on all its partners, acting in a spirit of mutual responsibility and solidarity: to ensure that aggression fails and that international law is upheld.

February 24, 2022 will forever be remembered as the day Russia launched its brutal, unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. This was and remains a case of pure aggression and a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. This war is not ‘just a European problem’, nor is it about ‘the West versus the rest’. This is about the kind of world we want to live in: nothing is safe in a world where illegal use of force – by nuclear powers and permanent members of the Security Council – will be ‘normalised’. International law must therefore be enforced everywhere to protect everybody from power politics, blackmail and military attacks.

A year ago, there was a risk that people would become accustomed to the images of war crimes and atrocities that they saw – because there were so many of them; the words we use can lose their meaning – because we have to repeat them so often; that we will tire and underestimate our resolve – because time is running out and the task is difficult.

This we cannot do. Because every day, Russia continues to violate the UN charter, setting a dangerous precedent for the whole world with its imperialist policies. Every day, Russia continues to kill innocent Ukrainian women, men and children, dropping missiles on cities and civilian infrastructure. Every day, Russia continues to spread lies and fakes.

For the European Union and our partners, there is no alternative to sticking to our ‘triple strategy’: supporting Ukraine, putting pressure on Russia to stop its illegal aggression and helping the rest of the world deal with the fallout.

That’s what we’ve been doing for a year now – and with success. We have adopted unprecedented sanctions; reduce our dependence on Russian fossil fuels; and in close cooperation with the main partners, reduced the energy profits received by the Kremlin to finance aggression by 50%. By working together, we have also reduced the global ripple effect, with food and energy prices falling, in part thanks to the Solidarity Lanes and the Black Sea Grains Initiative.

In all this, the EU is not asking anyone to ‘pick a side’. We only ask countries to stand by the UN Charter and international law, as we jointly agreed at the last EU-Africa Summit. The support of many African countries at the UN and elsewhere for the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and international law is very important.

It is not enough that we want Ukraine to be able to defend itself – it needs the means to do so. So, for the first time, the EU is supplying weapons to an attacked country. Indeed, the EU is now the main provider of military training for Ukrainian personnel, in order to defend their country. We are also offering significant macro-financial and humanitarian aid to support Ukrainian citizens. And we decided to respond positively to Ukraine’s request to join the EU. Finally, we seek accountability for war crimes committed by Russia.

Ukraine has shown remarkable resilience, in part because of this support. And Russia is increasingly isolated, due to global sanctions and international condemnation by the majority of countries in the UN General Assembly. Our collective goal is and remains a victorious democratic Ukraine; push back the invaders, restore full sovereignty and, thus, restore international legality.

Above all, we want peace in Ukraine, a comprehensive and lasting peace that is in line with the UN Charter and international law. Support Ukraine and work for peace together

In all this, the EU is not asking anyone to ‘pick a side’. We only ask countries to stand by the UN Charter and international law, as we jointly agreed at the last EU-Africa Summit. The support of many African countries at the UN and elsewhere for the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and international law is very important.

More broadly, the Russian invasion has underlined the need for Europe and Africa to become less dependent. And it has strengthened our commitment to use partnerships to build more resilient and inclusive economies, protect democracy and strengthen social cohesion.

Like Ukraine, our African partners are free to make their own choices and have the sovereign right to determine their own future. We reject the logic of any country being in some ‘sphere of influence’ or the other. Indeed, Russian aggression is a textbook example of the imperialist mindset.

We must be clear that Russia’s actions are responsible for the economic shock wave, in terms of food, energy and fertilizer prices. We have always exempted Russian energy, food and fertilizers from EU sanctions and we are monitoring the unwanted effects of our sanctions. The EU continues to work hard to address food security needs and we have increased funding, such as €1.6 billion for the most affected countries in the Sahel, Lake Chad and the Horn of Africa.

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More broadly, the Russian invasion has underlined the need for Europe and Africa to become less dependent. And it has strengthened our commitment to use partnerships to build more resilient and inclusive economies, protect democracy and strengthen social cohesion.

History and justice are on Ukraine’s side. But to speed up history and achieve justice, we need to expand the ‘triple strategy’. We know this is a collective task. That is why the European Union relies on all its partners, acting in a spirit of mutual responsibility and solidarity: to ensure that aggression fails and international law is upheld.

Josep Borrell is the EU High Representative and Vice President for Foreign Policy and Security.