Von der Leyen ahead of Ukraine-EU summit: 'Kyiv has unconditional support of EU'

Ahead of the Ukraine-EU summit, set to take place in Kyiv on Feb. 3, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, reassured Ukraine that it has unconditional support from the European Union.

In a Jan. 28 speech at an event of her party, the CDU, in Duesseldorf, Germany, von der Leyen said that Ukraine needs to prevail against Russian attacks in order to defend European values.

“We stand by Ukraine’s side without any ifs and buts,” she said.

Von der Leyen added that Ukraine “is fighting for our shared values, it is fighting for the respect of international law and for the principles of democracy, and that is why Ukraine has to win this war.”

The Ukraine-EU summit is an annual event as part of Article 5 of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. This summit’s theme is expected to be the EU’s further support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s aggression.