<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">The European Union reiterated its long-term support for Ukraine on Monday as its foreign ministers convened in Kyiv for a "historic" gathering beyond the bloc's borders.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The meeting came as disagreements grow among EU members over support for Ukraine and as Kyiv's forces make limited gains in a high-stakes counteroffensive against Russian troops in the south and east of the country.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Concerns are also rising over aid from Washington, where a government funding deal this weekend left out fresh help for Ukraine due to opposition from hardline Republicans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But the White House on Monday rejected claims by the Kremlin that the West was fatigued on providing aid for Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"If Putin thinks he can outlast us he's wrong," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell described Monday's gathering as "historic" but made clear there would be no new concrete announcements.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is the first time that we met in a candidate country. And, unfortunately, it was also the first time that the foreign ministers of the European Union met in a country at war," he said at a press conference.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, meeting the foreign ministers, said the duration of the war -- now in its twentieth month -- was linked to the quality and quantity of support Ukraine receives from its allies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Our victory directly depends on our cooperation: the more strong and principled steps we take together, the sooner this war will end," Zelensky said in a statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To bring about a speedy end to the fighting, he urged the European Union to expand its sanctions on Russia and Iran, which has supplied attack drones for Russian forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And he called for the "acceleration" of work to direct "frozen Russian assets to finance the restoration of war-torn Ukraine".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The EU's 27 members have remained broadly united through the war on their support for Ukraine, hitting Russia with 11 rounds of sanctions and spending billions of euros on arms for Kyiv.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Lasting support' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, Hungary, Russia's closest ally in the EU, could now be joined by Slovakia as a potential block to more backing, as populist Robert Fico pushes for power in Bratislava after winning elections there this weekend.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The foreign ministers of Hungary, Poland and Latvia did not attend the summit, a Ukrainian government official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that the Polish and Latvian representatives were ill.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There have also been tensions between Kyiv and some of its most strident backers -- most notably Poland -- over the influx of Ukrainian grain onto European markets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Borrell that the Kremlin was investing "huge resources" into its efforts to stir disunity among Ukraine's allies, but urged them to stand firm.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Putin's greatest expectation is precisely that the West and the world will tire of standing on the side of Ukraine in this war," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">France's top diplomat Catherine Colonna earlier addressed the concerns, saying the meeting was a signal of the bloc's "lasting support for Ukraine, until it can win".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It is also a message to Russia that it should not count on our fatigue. We will be there for a long time to come," she said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Kremlin, which anticipated a lightning-fast takeover of Ukraine and is counting on Western countries tiring in their support, predicted Monday that Western war fatigue "will grow".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">- 'Winter protection plan' -</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a strategy to limit the fallout from an expected campaign of Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy grid in the coming months as temperatures drop.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Ukraine needs a winter protection plan of air defence, generators and a strengthening of the energy supply," she said. "We saw last winter the brutal way in which the Russian president wages this war."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian authorities say Russia has launched systemic aerial attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, a strategy that last year left millions without heating or water.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kuleba also urged EU support for a new maritime export route in the Black Sea, so it can reach its "full capacity".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukraine has been pushing for support for a naval route since Moscow scrapped a deal in July guaranteeing safe passage of grain exports in the Black Sea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"A sea corridor through which Ukrainian grain can be exported to the world without the involvement of Russia is possible. We have already demonstrated it," Kuleba said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Putin ordered troops into Ukraine in February 2022 and his army swept quickly through large swathes of the south and east of the country but were beaten back from the north.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In June, Kyiv launched a long-awaited counteroffensive but has acknowledged slow progress as its forces encounter deep lines of heavily fortified Russian defences. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>