We had a very good meeting of the Coalition of the Willing. The Coalition of the Willing has gotten bigger, stronger and very determined. I have basically three key takeaways. The first was the broad discussion we had on how to step up the support for Ukraine in the short term, financially and military wise; Ukraine's military needs have to be fulfilled, but also the financial needs. And here I can say that we will frontload the EU part of the G7 loans for Ukraine.
Second topic: Keep up the pressure on Russia. It was very clear that the sanctions stay in place. What we want is a just and lasting peace agreement. That is the goal.
And the third key takeaway was on the long-term support for Ukraine and our own European defence posture.
Here, of course, the Readiness 2030 plan is crucial. It provides up to EUR 800 billion of defence investment possibilities for the Member States. And this means, for example, joint procurement with Ukraine, in the European Union, but also in the Ukrainian defence industry. It is strengthening the defence industrial base of Ukraine. And of course, we also need a credible deterrence and defence posture in the European Union. And thus, we have to develop our own defence industrial base too.
