Borrell says that Ukraine can count on the EU

EU High Representative Josep Borrell told reporters on
Nov. 16 that Ukraine can count on the EU’s support if Russia further aggravates
the situation on its borders. As the EU does not have a military alliance with
Ukraine, that assistance would be in the form of political, diplomatic,
economic, and financial support, ukrinform.ua reported on the same day.

“We will continue to act in the same way, as part of
the actions that have been taken since Russia seized Crimea and started the war
in Donbas,” he said. The statements come after a meeting of the EU Council of
Defense Ministers.

James Hydzik: Given that the likelihood of a large-scale invasion is still very low,
Borrell’s statement sounds reasonable. However, there is a lot of room to
maneuver between a peaceable situation and front-sized operations. Borrell’s
statements do very little to change the calculus that both sides engage in, at
a time when stark warnings are coming from the UK, the US, and some continental
leaders. We expect Borrell and company to remain quite concerned for the time
being.