Dave Keating Profile picture
Feb 28 7 tweets 4 min read
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." Image
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." Image
Borrell says he is travelling to #Moldova on Wednesday to meet with government.

"We believe that the Russian pressure [on Moldova] could increase in the coming days"

(There is fear Russia's territorial ambition includes Moldova's Russian-backed breakaway region #Transnistria) Image
Borrell stresses that the EU *is* a military power (but many until now have been unwilling to see it that way).

"Alltogether our defence expenditure is *4 times* that of Russia and equal to that of China. But we cannot say it's equally efficient." Image
"There have been [Russian] cyberattacks against various ministries in #Ukraine and against the media," Borrell confirms.

"We are trying to help Ukraine fight these cyberattacks and that will be part of the aid we'll provide."
Borrell is travelling to #Moldova at a time of high risk. Before the war the Russian forces in the breakaway region of #Transnistria were preparing drills.

Former Romanian President Basescu urged 🇲🇩🇷🇴 to hold a snap referendum to reunite Moldova & #Romania to put it within #NATO

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Dave Keating

Dave Keating Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @DaveKeating

Feb 28
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 🇺🇦."
Read 5 tweets
Feb 27
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.
Read 7 tweets
Feb 27
🇪🇺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."
Read 12 tweets
Feb 27
Republican candidate JD Vance, tipped to be the next US Senator for Ohio: "I don't really care what happens to #Ukraine."

The US should leave #Russia alone and focus on the real enemy - #Mexico. He says the US-Mexico border is the real "warzone".
businessinsider.com/gop-candidate-…
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.
Read 5 tweets
Feb 26
#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."
Read 7 tweets
Feb 25
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." Image
"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." Image
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
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(