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00:00 Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Spain.
00:02 The Ukrainian president traveled to Granada to attend a security summit
00:06 of the European political community, an informal group
00:10 of 47 European and NATO member states.
00:13 Zelensky says his country needs more military aid and air defense systems in preparation
00:19 for possible ramped up Russian strikes this winter.
00:23 But the EU's foreign affairs chief, Joseph Borrell,
00:25 says Ukraine also needs the financial support of the US.
00:31 "The main challenge is what we have, that is to save unity in Europe.
00:36 And I'm speaking not only about the countries in EU, in all the Europe.
00:41 I think that is the biggest challenge what we'll have, because Russia will attack
00:46 by information, disinformation, by fakes and etc.
00:51 And that is the first thing. The second, so important for Ukraine to have
00:59 defending shield for the winter, because in winter we will have many attacks
01:05 by different kinds of Russian missiles, including Iranian drones and etc."
01:13 "Europe cannot replace the US.
01:16 Europe is increasing its support.
01:19 In the table there are proposals for 50 billion euros for the civilian
01:24 and economic side and 20 billion for the military side.
01:28 And we did that before waiting for the US to take decisions.
01:33 Certainly we can do more, but the US is something
01:38 impressive for the support of Ukraine."
01:43 Rob Parsons joins us on set now, our international affairs editor.
01:47 Rob, what is the European political community?
01:50 I don't think I've heard much about them in the past.
01:53 "Well, it's because it's new on the scene.
01:54 It came into existence after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
02:00 Brings together, as you said in the introduction, 47 European countries,
02:04 not all of them by any means in the European Union.
02:07 And it's more of a talking shop than anything else.
02:10 Don't expect this meeting in Granada to take any decisions,
02:13 because that really is not what it's about.
02:15 It's an opportunity for European leaders across the board
02:19 to tackle some of the big issues of the day,
02:21 to ensure that they're all more or less walking in the same direction.
02:26 And there's plenty to talk about this time around.
02:29 We heard, obviously, Zelensky, the Ukrainian president,
02:33 talking about Ukraine.
02:34 It's going to dominate a lot of the discussion, I imagine.
02:37 But also there's the problem of Kosovo, the souring relationship
02:41 between Kosovo and Serbia.
02:42 There's the problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
02:46 President Aliyev of Azerbaijan was meant to come to Granada
02:50 for these talks.
02:51 It was hoped that he would sit down at the same table
02:53 with Pashinyan, the prime minister of Armenia,
02:57 and that progress could be made on a treaty between Armenia
03:00 and Azerbaijan.
03:01 That's not going to happen.
03:03 But obviously, it's a theme that's going to be discussed a lot.
03:06 The issue of refugees is sure to come up.
03:10 Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister,
03:13 is co-chairing one of the sessions.
03:15 And it's something that he really wants to make sure is discussed.
03:19 Food crises, the enlargement of the European Union,
03:23 in the pipeline now, the idea of increasing numbers from 27 to 35,
03:28 and what that means for the structure of the EU in the future.
03:31 How do they reorganize to face the new problems that
03:35 would arise from that?
03:36 How is it going to be financed?
03:38 Because the figures are enormous.
03:41 An awful lot to talk about in a one-day summit,
03:45 but no decisions coming at the end of it.
03:47 Right, a one-day summit.
03:48 Now, you mentioned Ukraine.
03:50 We've been also mentioning-- you're talking about it a lot today
03:53 with Zelensky in Spain for this meeting.
03:56 What is Ukraine asking for right now?
04:00 What position is it in?
04:02 Clearly, it's going from bloc to nation to bloc,
04:05 asking for more help.
04:08 What is the picture on the ground right now?
04:12 This is a critical moment for Ukraine.
04:14 And Volodymyr Zelensky has come to Granada
04:18 to try and keep things moving forward.
04:20 As we heard him just saying just now, unity is really important.
04:25 And primarily, I think what he means by that
04:27 is unity around Ukraine in its struggle against Russia, which
04:31 he is presenting as the--
04:33 Is that cracking?
04:34 Yeah, and he's presenting it as the common struggle of Europe
04:38 for its ideals, for the ideology that underpins Europe, democracy,
04:42 and so on, liberal ideas.
04:46 Because at this moment, he, like many people,
04:49 looks at what's happening.
04:50 Not much moving on the battlefront.
04:53 Progress has been very slow, although we don't
04:56 know precisely what this means.
04:58 Ukrainians are suggesting that they're
05:00 being successful in degrading Russian forces,
05:05 suggesting that a breakthrough of some sort
05:07 might be coming down the pipeline.
05:09 But at the moment, things aren't progressing very much.
05:13 And we're beginning to see cracks in the unity,
05:18 not just of the European Union, but in the United States,
05:21 where it's back at the center of the debate.
05:23 Joe Biden, US president, talking about his concern
05:27 that there may be problems in getting the financing
05:30 for Ukraine going forward.
05:32 That's what Zelensky's in Granada for,
05:34 to try and rally the European troops, as it were,
05:36 to make sure that he gets, or Ukraine gets,
05:39 the financial support it needs, first of all,
05:42 for its military operations.
05:43 That means ammunition, primarily, for its artillery.
05:46 But also the defense of Ukraine.
05:49 Last year, the Russians tried to destroy Ukraine's
05:53 infrastructure, primarily energy.
05:55 Ukraine is much better defended going forward now,
05:59 but still needs more air defense systems in place.
06:02 He'll be asking for that.
06:04 All right, thank you so much, Rob Parsons, International
06:06 Affairs Editor, with that analysis on that security
06:10 summit.