Borrell arrives in Kiev to reiterate EU support for Ukraine

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josep Borrell arrived in Kiev on Saturday for a previously announced visit, where he will reiterate European support for Ukraine as Russia continues its offensive across the country.

"The EU's support for Ukraine has been my personal priority during my tenure and will remain at the top of the EU's agenda," Borrell wrote in X.

He said this hours after the Russian military carried out another attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, damaging buildings and residential houses in Odesa.

Borrelli is said to be the most senior EU official to visit Ukraine since Donald Trump won the US presidential election on November 5.

"The message is clear: Europeans will continue to support Ukraine," Borrell told an accompanying AFP journalist.

"We have supported Ukraine from the beginning and this latest visit to Ukraine conveys the same message: We will support you as much as we can," said Borrell, who is expected to leave office next month.

Trump's victory in the election has raised concerns in Kiev. Trump had said during the campaign that he could quickly resolve Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, even before he was inaugurated on January 20. Trump has suggested that Kiev should agree to cede some territory to Moscow in exchange for peace, a condition that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected.

"Nobody knows exactly what the new administration will do," Borrell told AFP, noting that Joe Biden still has two months left in office as US president.

"But we Europeans must use this opportunity to build a stronger and more united Europe, and one of the manifestations of being united and able to act is our role in supporting Ukraine", he emphasized.

Borrell said it was up to EU countries to decide "when and how to increase" their support, if necessary. However, he added that at a meeting of EU leaders in Budapest on November 8 "the majority of member states were insisting on the same line, [to] continue supporting Ukraine".

Ukrainian troops are overwhelmed as Russian occupation forces make gradual advances to the east. Meanwhile, Russia's drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure continue.

Russian drones attacked the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, killing one person and wounding 13 others, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Saturday.

Several residential buildings, houses, commercial buildings and dozens of private cars were damaged by this Russian drone attack, which was the second in a row in the last two days in Odesa, Kiper said./ REL