DISINFO: The EU has turned away from Ukraine
SUMMARY
European politicians long ago turned their backs on Ukraine and stopped helping the country.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the European Union is tired of Ukraine and no longer wants to help it.
The EU sees Ukraine as a priority partner. It supports Ukraine in ensuring a stable, prosperous, and democratic future for its citizens, and unequivocally supports Ukraine’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty. Relations between Ukraine and the EU are based on the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, which affirms Ukraine’s independence and inviolability of borders. The Association Agreement, including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), is the main tool for bringing Ukraine and the EU closer together, promoting deeper political ties, stronger economic links and respect for common values. Since 2014, the EU and the European Financial Institutions have mobilised a package of more than €15 billion in grants and loans to support Ukraine’s reform process – the biggest support package in the EU’s history. In 2017, the EU approved visa-free travel for Ukrainians. For more information about EU-Ukraine relations, see here.
Far from destabilising Ukraine, the EU and its Member States have been actively engaged in seeking a solution to the conflict caused by Russia's annexation of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine. France and Germany, along with Ukraine and Russia, belong to the Normandy Four, which is tasked with resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine in cooperation with the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine and the Trilateral Contact Group. The EU supports this process and continues to treat the implementation of the Minsk agreements as an absolute priority for Ukraine’s security: [1] [2].