EU president says Ukraine has unconditional support ahead of summit

FILE PHOTO: Local residents remove debris from a house of their neighbour damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Hlevakha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ahead of an EU-Ukraine summit next week that Ukraine had unconditional support from the bloc and that the country needed to prevail against Russian attacks to defend European values.

"We stand by Ukraine's side without any ifs and buts," von der Leyen said in a speech on Saturday at an event of her party, the Christian Democrat CDU, in Duesseldorf, Germany.

Ukraine "is fighting for our shared values, it is fighting for the respect of international law and for the principles of democracy and that is why Ukraine has to win this war", she said.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2023. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann

Von der Leyen and her fellow EU commissioners plan an EU-Ukraine summit on Feb. 3.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Matthias Inverardi; Editing by Alison Williams)