LAST UPDATE | 2 Oct 2023
TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has met with Ukraininan President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv as the latter spoke to EU ministers about the importance of the bloc’s support for his country’s war effort.
Almost 20 months on from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said to ministers from the EU’s foreign affairs council that victory “directly depends on our cooperation”.
“Our victory directly depends on our cooperation: the more strong and principled steps we take together, the sooner this war will end,” Zelenskyy said in a statement.
Martin is in the Ukrainian capital for the meeting of the EU’s foreign affairs ministers and earlier reaffirmed Ireland’s support for Ukraine.
Martin again voiced his support for Ukraine’s bid to gain accession to the EU, with the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying today that, “Ukraine’s future lies within the EU.”
Martin and Zelenskyy met previously in July 2022 in Ukraine when Martin was Taoiseach.
Zelenskyy met with several of the EU ministers and his meeting with Martin was held alongside foreign affairs counterparts from Romania, Italy and France.
Zelenskyy thanked them for their support and presenetd them with an award.
Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot said it was “really important to meet here today to show our solidarity with Ukraine.”
“This is a historic event because for the fist time ever the foreign affairs council is going to sit down outside of its current borders — outside the borders of the European Union — but within future borders of the European Union,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters alongside Borrell.
The meetings have taken place as questions around the future of financial support for Ukraine have been raised in the biggest single backer the United States.
Republican resistance to the aid has been gaining momentum in the halls of the US Congress, with nearly half of House Republicans voting to strip US$300 million from a defence-spending bill to train Ukrainian soldiers and purchase weapons.
The money was later approved separately, but opponents of Ukraine support celebrated their growing numbers.
There are also disagreements among EU members over support for Ukraine as Kyiv’s forces make limited gains in a high-stakes counteroffensive against Russian troops.
Hungary, Russia’s closest ally in the EU, could now be joined by Slovakia as a potential block to more backing as populist Robert Fico pushes for power in Bratislava after winning elections this weekend.
There have also been tensions between Kyiv and some of its most strident backers — most notably Poland — over the influx of Ukrainian grain onto their markets.
Asked by The Journal today about the security of US military aid to Ukraine, Martin referenced the political landscape in the US ahead of the presidential election next year.
“Elections will always create challenges, American suppport has been vital, remains vital,” he said.
American support is a great deterrent to Russia. Like if America was just sort of a passive, neutral, onlooker here, not bothered, god knows what Russia would be endeavouring to do.
Martin said that the US was “very concious” in the early stages of the war that a “nuclear situation” would not arise.
He added: “I think we have to allow for politics in an election year. But if you look at the geopolitical realities, they would still come through after the election. And they do make that prediction. I think Biden, notwithstanding the setback of two days ago, won’t leave Ukraine down and hasn’t left them down.”
Speaking earlier about Irish troops training Ukrainian soldiers in military competencies, Martin said such training would be expanded, referencing skills such as de-mining and medical combat.
This permanent display here in Mykhailivska Square, Kyiv is of Russian tanks, vehicles and a rocket. There is also a display showing images of the bodies of Ukrainian civilians killed by Russians in locations such as Bucha. They are too horrific to share. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/NmovFUTEyH
— Niall O’Connor (@NiallJournal_ie) October 2, 2023
Ireland has provided assistance to Ukraine as part of the European Union Military Assistance Mission in Support of Ukraine (EUMAM) since February.
It was understood that Ireland’s contribution to the EUMAM would focus on training in areas such as medics, de-mining methods and engineering capabilities.
In August it was reported that Irish Defence Forces personnel would be providing weapons training to Ukrainian troops, prompting protests outside the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.
Asked today about this training, Martin said it was “humanitarian to defend your people”.
He said that marksmanship was not included in the “very basic drill instruction” programme provided by Ireland, adding that “a number of modules were taken out”.
“Overall, by the way, can I say that our contribution relative to others is modest, to be frank, in terms of the training side. And up to now, it’s been primarily in casualty or combat casualty,” he said on RTÉ’s News at One.
When asked whether rifle training extended beyond non-lethal aid, Martin said there was “a degree of overstatement” in some of the descriptions of Ireland’s assistance to Ukraine.
When it was asserted it was not a humanitarian mission, he replied: “It’s humanitarian to defend your people.
During his meeting with Zelenskyy, Martin was presented with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise by Zelenskyy.
Following the meeting, he told The Journal that the Ukrainian people needed to be commended for their resilience in the face of Russia’s invasion.
“We should remind ourselves as a country about the resilience of Ukrainians because this was a ferocious, brutal attack on them by Russia, which has extraordinary military power. And it really has wreaked that military power, on ordinary Ukrainians in a savage manner,” he said.
With reporting by Rónán Duffy.
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