DISINFO: EU countries will not keep aiding Ukraine if they do not reimburse their money
SUMMARY
Josep Borrell sent a clear message to Volodymyr Zelenskyy: he affirmed that EU member states have little incentive to continue helping Ukraine unless Kyiv reimburses the money they spent.
RESPONSE
This is a disingenuous distortion of HRVP Josep Borrell’s original statement. He was referring to the European Peace Facility, whose funds for aiding Ukraine have been systematically blocked by Hungary.
This is the reason why EU countries are not being reimbursed for the supplies they provided for Ukraine, a situation that Borrell described as “shameful”. The Ukrainian government is not legally obliged to reimburse the aid received under this legal mechanism.
The goal of this disinformation story is to undermine international support for Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s aggression by portraying it as a lost cause and Ukraine as in the verge of being abandoned by its allies. Messages about the inevitability of a Russian victory have been a permanent feature of pro-Kremlin disinformation since the start of the invasion.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that European countries are starting to betray and disavow Ukraine, that Ukraine lost all its friends, that Ukraine is fading from the West's agenda, or that Ukraine is abandoned, a third-rate colony.