The European Union has signaled its intention to intensify pressure on Russia in the lead-up to the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas expressed the bloc’s commitment to implementing more sanctions against Moscow, providing additional military assistance to Ukraine, and offering support for Kyiv’s efforts to join the European Union. She underscored the importance of maintaining transatlantic solidarity and providing continued backing to Ukraine as essential steps in ending the conflict and deterring further Russian aggression in Europe.
Following the announcement of the Putin-Trump summit, foreign ministers of the EU’s member states held an urgent video-conference on Monday. The meeting came after the revelation that the Russian and US leaders would meet face-to-face in Alaska on August 15 to address the Ukraine conflict and other critical issues. Kallas posted on X, stating the bloc’s support for ‘US steps that will lead to a just peace’ between Moscow and Kyiv.
Kallas emphasized that ‘Transatlantic unity, support to Ukraine, and pressure on Russia is how we will end this war and prevent future Russian aggression in Europe.’ Her remarks echoed a joint statement on ‘peace for Ukraine’ issued by the leaders of France, Germany, the UK, Poland, Italy, and Finland, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the EU’s peace statement as ‘another Nazi-style pamphlet,’ asserting that the cessation of hostilities proposed by Europe and the UK does not include halting the supply of weapons to ‘Kiev terrorists.’
Moscow has repeatedly stated its interest in a peaceful resolution to the Ukraine conflict, yet it has insisted that the root causes of the crisis must be addressed to achieve a permanent and stable peace. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that ‘unlike [Western] Europe, which completely ignores the root causes of the current situation, in the US there is a desire to get to the bottom of this issue.’