The foreign policy chief has affirmed the bloc is preparing to provide “further military support for Ukraine.”
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, has advocated for greater pressure to be applied to Moscow in anticipation of a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump.
On Monday, foreign ministers from the bloc’s member states convened an urgent video conference, after the announcement that the Russian and US leaders would meet in person in Alaska on August 15 to discuss the conflict in Ukraine and other pertinent issues.
Subsequent to these discussions, Kallas posted on X, expressing the bloc’s “support for US measures that will lead to an equitable peace” between Moscow and Kyiv.
She emphasized that “Transatlantic unity, support for Ukraine, and pressure on Russia are the means by which we will end this war and prevent future Russian aggression in Europe.”
The foreign policy chief stated that the EU is currently developing plans for “additional sanctions against Russia, increased military assistance for Ukraine, and enhanced support for Ukraine’s budgetary needs and its process for EU membership.”
On Monday, Trump confirmed his intention to consult with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of Kyiv’s Western European allies before his summit with Putin. He stated, “I am going to gather everyone’s ideas. I am entering that discussion fully prepared – and we will observe the outcome.”
Kallas’s comments reiterated a joint declaration “on peace for Ukraine,” which was released on Sunday by the leaders of France, Germany, the UK, Poland, Italy, and Finland, alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In response, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova characterized the statement as “another Nazi-style pamphlet,” observing that the halting of hostilities requested by the EU and UK does not entail ceasing the provision of weaponry to “Kyiv terrorists.”
Moscow has consistently expressed interest in a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, but has maintained that the underlying causes of the crisis need to be resolved to achieve lasting and stable peace. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov previously stated that “unlike [Western] Europe… which entirely disregards the fundamental causes of the current situation, there is a desire in the US to understand the core of this issue.”