02:36EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has 'not given up on imperialist ambitions' and 'wants to rebuild the empire' during a keynote address on the sidelines of NATO's summit in Washington DC on Wednesday.
"We didn't want to see what was obvious that Putin wants Russia to dominate its neighbourhood again," he said. "When they started bombing Kiev, we woke up to this unhappy reality, and we found ourselves poorly prepared [...] we were not prepared to face this challenge."
Borrell said that Kiev's victory over Russia is an 'existential' requirement for the security of the rest of Europe, warning that Moscow cannot be allowed to turn Ukraine 'into a second Belarus'.
"If we allow Putin's Russia to turn Ukraine into a second Belarus, and to put a puppet government in Kiev, we will pay a much higher price later," he continued.
"Putin will not stop in Kiev. And, those who blame the 'global powers' for this war should be courageous enough in order to name and blame the ones who started this war. They have a name. It's not 'global powers'. It's called Putin," the European defence chief added.
Borrell also claimed that the EU could only accept a ceasefire deal that would defend 'Ukraine's sovereignty' and provide long-term 'security guarantees'.
"Only that will be a real peace. Peace is something more than the absence of war. And everything else, a ceasefire will only allow Russia to rearm and attack again," he said.
Borrell's comments came on the margins of the three-day NATO summit in Washington DC, which marks the alliance's 75th anniversary.
Borrell claims 'Russia still behaves as empire', admits Europe 'was not prepared to face challenge'
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has 'not given up on imperialist ambitions' and 'wants to rebuild the empire' during a keynote address on the sidelines of NATO's summit in Washington DC on Wednesday.
"We didn't want to see what was obvious that Putin wants Russia to dominate its neighbourhood again," he said. "When they started bombing Kiev, we woke up to this unhappy reality, and we found ourselves poorly prepared [...] we were not prepared to face this challenge."
Borrell said that Kiev's victory over Russia is an 'existential' requirement for the security of the rest of Europe, warning that Moscow cannot be allowed to turn Ukraine 'into a second Belarus'.
"If we allow Putin's Russia to turn Ukraine into a second Belarus, and to put a puppet government in Kiev, we will pay a much higher price later," he continued.
"Putin will not stop in Kiev. And, those who blame the 'global powers' for this war should be courageous enough in order to name and blame the ones who started this war. They have a name. It's not 'global powers'. It's called Putin," the European defence chief added.
Borrell also claimed that the EU could only accept a ceasefire deal that would defend 'Ukraine's sovereignty' and provide long-term 'security guarantees'.
"Only that will be a real peace. Peace is something more than the absence of war. And everything else, a ceasefire will only allow Russia to rearm and attack again," he said.
Borrell's comments came on the margins of the three-day NATO summit in Washington DC, which marks the alliance's 75th anniversary.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has 'not given up on imperialist ambitions' and 'wants to rebuild the empire' during a keynote address on the sidelines of NATO's summit in Washington DC on Wednesday.
"We didn't want to see what was obvious that Putin wants Russia to dominate its neighbourhood again," he said. "When they started bombing Kiev, we woke up to this unhappy reality, and we found ourselves poorly prepared [...] we were not prepared to face this challenge."
Borrell said that Kiev's victory over Russia is an 'existential' requirement for the security of the rest of Europe, warning that Moscow cannot be allowed to turn Ukraine 'into a second Belarus'.
"If we allow Putin's Russia to turn Ukraine into a second Belarus, and to put a puppet government in Kiev, we will pay a much higher price later," he continued.
"Putin will not stop in Kiev. And, those who blame the 'global powers' for this war should be courageous enough in order to name and blame the ones who started this war. They have a name. It's not 'global powers'. It's called Putin," the European defence chief added.
Borrell also claimed that the EU could only accept a ceasefire deal that would defend 'Ukraine's sovereignty' and provide long-term 'security guarantees'.
"Only that will be a real peace. Peace is something more than the absence of war. And everything else, a ceasefire will only allow Russia to rearm and attack again," he said.
Borrell's comments came on the margins of the three-day NATO summit in Washington DC, which marks the alliance's 75th anniversary.