On #refugees, 🇪🇺President @VonDerLeyen says she is proud of the Europeans who have travelled to the border to help the arrivals.
"We welcome with open arms those Ukrainians who have to flee from Putin's bombs"
The EU will send assistance to the Eastern member states to help.
@JosepBorrellF, who will chair a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers starting now expected to last all night, says "Ukrainian forces are fiercely fighting back and showing a heroic resistance to this invasion"
Ukraine asked for #SWIFT & arms he says, and now 🇪🇺 is doing both
"This afternoon #Putin has announced that he's putting Russian nuclear deterrent forces on high alert," says Borrell.
G7 foreign ministers just had an emergency meeting on this.
"I will today propose to use the European Peace Facility for 2 emergency assistance measures: to finance supply of lethal material to Ukrainian army, and urgently needed fuel, protective equipment and medical supplies."
"Another taboo [that 🇪🇺doesn't supply arms] has fallen"
These 🇪🇺 military taboos are now falling because these are unprecedented times, EU High Rep Borrell says. "It's the first time in history" EU sends arms in conflict.
"We are living through pestilence and war, like in the biblical times."
"Putin doesn't only want to conquer the land, he also wants to capture the spirit of the people with toxic messages and lies"
"The Kremlin and its supporters are engaged in a massive disinformation campaign in Ukraine, in our neighborhood and in the EU itself." So EU will ban RT
"Today we're taking a crucial step to turn off the tap for Russian information manipulation in Europe by banning #RussiaToday and #Sputnik from broadcasting in the EU," says EU High Rep Borrell. "We are killing the snake on its neck"
Will Putin turn off the gas tap in response?
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Speaking after the emergency meeting of 🇪🇺 defence ministers EU High Rep @JosepBorrellF, says ministers agreed to provide #Ukraine with satellite intelligene to localize Russian troop movements.
“We are mobilizing our satellite center, which is based in Madrid."
Defence ministers were convened because "once the political decision [for the EU to arm Ukraine] was taken yesterday, it's a matter of defence policy and it's up to the ministers to implement these measures and use this funding," says Borrell.
"The military staff of the European Union have provided us with a value assessment of the situation, gathering all the intelligence information that the members states contribute," says Borrell.
"The Russian military campaign is becoming more ruthless."
It isn't just foreign affairs and defence ministers meeting today, EU energy ministers are also meeting for an emergency discussion on energy supplies.
Irish Energy minister Eamon Ryan upon arriving that they're trying to sync EU electricity system with Ukraine.
Belgian Energy minister Tinne Van der Straeten acknowledges that the ministers can't end the EU's dependence on Russian oil & gas overnight.
But they need to “act on the short term to make the energy transition happen at the medium term” and guarantee the EU's strategic autonomy
"Our reliance on fossil fuels is costing us dear...in what's happening with Russia today," says 🇮🇪 Energy Minister Eamon Ryan.
"🇺🇸 is sending €350m of arms to 🇺🇦. But every day we 🇪🇺 spend €350m [on energy] which we give to 🇷🇺, which they invest in arms dropping on 🇺🇦."
🇪🇺President @VonDerLeyen and High Rep @JosepBorrellF announce, "for the first time ever, the European Union will finance purchase and deliver military equipment to a country that is under attack."
"This is a watershed moment."
President @VonDerLeyen also announces that *all* EU airspace is being closed to all Russian airlines. Any plane: chartered or commercial.
"Our airspace will be closed to every Russian plane, and that includes the private jets of oligarchs."
Third - the EU is banning Russian state propaganda TV channel #RussiaToday and #Sputnik.
"They will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify #Putin's war and to sew division in our union."
Vance's comments follow the leader of the #Republican Party, still the favorite for the party's presidential nomination in 2024, saying #Putin's invasion of #Ukraine is "genius".
High-profile Republicans like Tucker Carlson are telling their followers that #Putin is on their side in the culture war, and the real enemy is domestic: Democrats.
This message has been embraced by Republicans running to wrest control of Congress from Democrats in November.
#Kenya#UN speech on #UkraineWar: even if justified, border disputes cannot be solved by force
"Africa's borders weren't of our own drawing- drawn in distant colonial metropoles of London/Paris/Lisbon with no regard for ancient nations they cleaved apart"
"Across the border of every single African country live our countrymen with whom we share deep historical, cultural and linguistic bonds"
"At independence, had we chosen to pursue states on the basis of ethnic racial or religious homogeneity, we would still be waging bloody wars"
"Instead, we agreed that we would settle for the borders that we inherited. But we would still pursue continental, political, economic and legal integration."
"Rather than form nations that looked ever backward into history with a dangerous nostalgia, we chose to look forward."
Following the emergency video summit of #NATO prime ministers and presidents, Sec Gen @jensstoltenberg says Putin's invasion of #Ukraine is "a terrible strategic mistake for which #Russia will pay a heavy price for years to come."
"We call on Russia to stop this senseless war."
"The Kremlin's objectives are not limited to #Ukraine," says Stoltenberg.
"We are facing a new normal in European security, where #Russia openly contests the European security order and uses force to pursue its objectives."
NATO has activated its defence plans for a potential Russian attack.
As a result, the US and others have deployed thousands of troops to Eastern part of the alliance. Over 100 jets are at high alert at 30 different locations, as are 120 ships from the Arctic to the Mediterranean