Donate
Ahead of a meeting in Berlin with several of her European counterparts and top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas, Baerbock said: “Here in this circle, we are unanimous. Ukraine needs tough security guarantees.”
Baerbock added: “This includes long-term military and financial support for Ukraine.”
Guarantees for Kiev would send a “clear message,” the foreign minister said. “We stand up for the security and future of our European continent.”
Kallas said that more needed to be done to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia.
“We have to do more to strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield,” she stated. “The stronger they are on the battlefield, the stronger they are behind negotiations.
“And of course, it’s up to Ukraine to say when they are ready to sit around any negotiation table,” Kallas added.
Baerbock and Kallas did not answer questions about the participation of German or European soldiers in a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.
Earlier in December, Baerbock refused to rule out the prospect, drawing criticism in Germany.
Ukraine wants further Russian sanctions
The meeting aims to send a clear signal of continued support for Kiev in light of Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, a spokesman for the German Foreign Office said.
Alongside Kallas, Baerbock was hosting her counterparts from France, Poland, Italy, Spain and Britain as well as Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.
At the meeting, Sybiha called for “strong sanctions” on Moscow.
“[Russian President Vladimir] Putin understands only force. That is why I am here,” Sybiha said.
“And we do really hope that this established format will strengthen our joint efforts to achieve our strategic goal: just, comprehensive, long-lasting peace in Ukraine,” he added.
Also expected on the agenda in Berlin was the situation in Syria, with Baerbock warning that the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime was merely the first step on a long journey towards normalization.
EU offers support
Earlier, the European Commission offered its support in the discussions about a peacekeeping mission to secure a possible future ceasefire in Ukraine.
The EU is prepared to coordinate efforts in this direction, said a spokeswoman for Kallas in Brussels.
Representatives of several NATO states have been holding confidential talks for weeks on how a possible future ceasefire in Ukraine could be monitored, sources told dpa.
Concerns are growing that Trump could try to pressure Ukraine and Russia into negotiations once he is back in office in late January.
French President Emmanuel Macron was meeting Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw on Thursday to discuss European support for Ukraine under the new US administration.
According to diplomats, a possible peacekeeping mission is also likely to be on the agenda.
