Stand on Ukraine 'unshakeable', EU chief says: ‘In it for the lengthy haul..’ | World News

Western sanctions on Russia are having an actual impression and are there to remain, European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen stated on Wednesday, stressing that the European Union's solidarity with Ukraine can be "unshakeable."

With Ukrainian first woman Olena Zelenska the visitor of honour as she delivered her annual state of the union speech, von der Leyen was set to unveil proposals to curb the power worth spike that has hit Europe within the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"By no means earlier than has this Parliament debated the State of our Union with conflict raging on European soil," von der Leyen instructed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, the place many lawmakers and EU commissioners wore Ukraine's blue and yellow colors.

Learn extra: Ukraine's Zelensky visits newly-liberated Kharkiv metropolis 5 days after recapture

"And I stand right here with the conviction that with braveness and solidarity, Putin will fail and Europe will prevail," von der Leyen stated, including: "Europe's solidarity with Ukraine will stay unshakeable."

Von der Leyen, whose proposals to assist European households and firms will embody skimming off windfall earnings from power firms and imposing cuts in electrical energy utilization throughout the bloc, stated the bloc would additionally assist rebuild Ukraine.

Whereas some in Europe, pointing on the large spike in power costs, have been arguing that the bloc's sanctions on Russia have been hitting the West extra, von der Leyen stated that "the sanctions are right here to remain" and that they have been hurting Russia.

"Russia's monetary sector is on life-support", she stated, including that just about one thousand worldwide firms have left the nation. "The Russian army is taking chips from dishwashers and fridges to repair their army hardware, as a result of they ran out of semiconductors. Russia's business is in tatters."

At a time when Ukraine is engaged on securing territory it has reclaimed from occupying Russian forces in a swift counter-offensive, von der Leyen stated this was not the time for the bloc to melt its stance.

"That is the time for us to point out resolve, not appeasement," she stated. "We're in it for the lengthy haul."