Ukraine must negotiate with Russia from position of strength: military aid to Kyiv should be increased – Swedish Minister Johnson
Before the informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Warsaw, Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that it is necessary to increase military aid to Ukraine so that Kyiv can negotiate with Russia from a position of strength.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by Ukrinform.
Jonson reminded that this week Stockholm announced the allocation of the largest military aid package for Ukraine (€1.6 billion). Together, this amounts to about €3 billion in 2025, bringing the total value of Swedish aid to Kyiv to €8 billion.
The Swedish minister called on other countries to "do more" for Ukraine.
"We need to be sure that Ukrainians can negotiate from a position of strength," he emphasized.
According to him, it is very important that European partners do more to support Ukraine by directly investing in Ukraine's defense industry, in particular, according to the "Danish model".
Jonson emphasized that it is necessary to increase aid to Ukraine, "because now it all comes down to putting maximum pressure on Russia."
"The best way to do this is to strengthen sanctions, use frozen assets to invest in Ukraine and its defense industry, and increase support for Ukraine, including military and financial support," the Swedish Defense Minister emphasized.
He believes it is "absolutely necessary" that Europe assumes greater responsibility for its defense capabilities. In this regard, the Minister reminded that his country decided last week to increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2030.
As a reminder, the foreign ministers of the Weimar+ countries have announced that they will double military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, while considering new sanctions against Russia to force it to agree to a ceasefire.
