The European Commission considers as disinformation the statements that the EU wishes victory in Ukraine on the battlefield, despite the fact that such a position was expressed by the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
Such comments were made by the representative of the EU foreign policy service Peter Stano. Journalists asked him to comment on the phrase of acting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that if the West wants to solve the conflict on the battlefield, “it will be on the battlefield”.
Stano considered Lavrov’s words “disinformation and distortion of reality,” TASS reported.
At the same time, the head of the European Commission’s press office, Eric Mamer, called a similar question from journalists “incorrect.”
“The European Union is not on the battlefield. It is Russia that wants victory on the battlefield. To ask us about this, excuse me, is to ignore everything we have said on this topic before,” Mamer said, adding that the European Union is “an organisation based on a philosophy of peace.”
On 9 April 2022, Josep Borrell advocated resolving the Ukraine crisis “with a victory on the battlefield.” At that time, he promised that arms supplies from the EU would be adapted to the needs of the Ukrainian army. He expressed a similar opinion in February 2024.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb also said that the only way to peace in Ukraine is through the battlefield. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a Russian victory in Ukraine is very dangerous for NATO, so weapons in this case are “the way to peace”.
