‘Russia must stop the killing and show genuine willingness for peace,’ EU26 says
26 member states of the EU have signed a new statement issued by the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, condemning the Russian attack on Kyiv on Thursday, calling out “the reckless nature of Russia’s attacks and its disregard for international law.”
The group – which includes all EU members states except for Hungary, which regularly refuses to back statements critical of Russia – stressed that “intentional attacks against civilians and non-military objectives are war crimes,” and warned that “all commanders, perpetrators and accomplices of these grave violations of international humanitarian law shall be held to account.
“These crimes only reinforce our determination and resolve to support Ukraine and its people in their defence against Russia and their pursuit of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace,” the statement said, promising to “continue and increase” support for Ukraine and “accelerate” the work on new sanctions against Russia.
Russia must stop the killing and show genuine willingness for peace.
Key events
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Costs of not helping Ukraine now will be more substantial in longer term, Danish defence minister warns
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‘Broad support’ to expand EU military mission to provide training, advice inside Ukraine after truce, Kallas says
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Russia deliberately chooses to escalate and mock peace efforts, EU’s Kallas says
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Russia massing 100,000 troops near east Ukraine stronghold of Pokrovsk, Zelenskyy says
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‘Russia must stop the killing and show genuine willingness for peace,’ EU26 says
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Ukraine’s top military chief speaks with ‘Coalition of the Willing’ on security support for Ukraine
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Zelenskyy says security guarantees discussion needs leaders’ involvement, parliamentary ratification
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Zelenskyy urges Monday deadline for Russia to agree to bilateral meeting on ending war
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Europe needs to recognise need to work on readiness to respond to crises, EU’s von der Leyen says, as she warns against ‘predator’ Putin
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Turkish foreign minister claims Russia scales back its territorial demands in Ukraine
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Sweden summons Russian ambassador over Ukraine attacks
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Russia appears to reject security guarantees for Europe, warning of risk of conflict
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Russian missiles will not stop our support for Ukraine as the British Council’s vital work goes on – comment
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Kyiv residents fatalistic but defiant as city again comes under mass air attack
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Ireland’s Harris supports Denmark over alleged US Greenland influence campaign
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‘This cannot be consequence-free zone,’ Ireland’s Harris says after Russian attacks on Kyiv
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Morning opening: 23 dead in yesterday’s Russian attacks on Kyiv, Zelenskyy says
Kallas also gets asked if there is a way to unblock the €6.6bn in the European Peace Facility and use it for purchases helping Ukraine under the new Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List scheme agreed with Nato and US president Donald Trump.
She says there has been various attempts to convince Hungary to unblock the budget, including potential “opt outs” or guarantees the money would not be used on lethal aid, but she concedes these “have not been effective so far.”
She notes that Hungary often praises US president Trump’s peace efforts, and unblocking this money could help to advance them.
Costs of not helping Ukraine now will be more substantial in longer term, Danish defence minister warns
Speaking alongside Kallas, Danish deputy prime minister and defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen stresses the need to provide Ukraine with the support it needs.
He says:
“This is indeed an important time for Europe’s security, and we have also discussed this during our meeting today, a central topic for today’s meeting was the EU’s military support to Ukraine.
The task is very clear. Ukraine needs more military support, and they need it right now. We do not have time on our side, and the costs if we are not acting now will be much more substantial in the longer term.
We simply don’t have a choice.”
‘Broad support’ to expand EU military mission to provide training, advice inside Ukraine after truce, Kallas says
Reporting after ministerial talks on Ukraine, Kallas says “it is clear that Europe will fully play its part.”
She says the EU ministers showed “a broad support” to “expand our EU military mission mandate to provide training and advice inside Ukraine after any truce.”
She says the EU is already the largest training provider for Ukraine’s military, but it “must be ready to do more,” with EU trainers in Ukraine’s military academies and institutions and working on building Ukraine’s civilian resilience against Russian hybrid attacks.
She also touches upon the need to provide Ukraine with new security guarantees.
She says:
“Going forward, we will closely coordinate with the Coalition of the Willing.
Ministers were clear that the security guarantees for Ukraine must be robust and credible. 2022 must not be allowed to repeat.”
Russia deliberately chooses to escalate and mock peace efforts, EU’s Kallas says
EU’s foreign policy chief Kallas is speaking in Copenhagen now.
“The past weeks, we have seen diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war, and it’s clear that Europe wants peace, America wants peace, Ukraine wants peace.
Who doesn’t want peace is Russia.”
She says Russian attacks on Kyiv showed it was a “deliberate choice” to “escalate and mock the peace efforts.”
Russia massing 100,000 troops near east Ukraine stronghold of Pokrovsk, Zelenskyy says
Her comments will be closely watched as they come shortly after Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that Russia was building up a force of some 100,000 troops near the eastern Ukrainian stronghold of Pokrovsk, which Russia claims as its territory, AFP reported.
“There is a build-up and concentration of the enemy there. Up to 100,000 – that’s what we have as of this morning. They are preparing offensive actions in any case,” Zelensky told journalists.
Jakub Krupa
We should hear from Kallas herself shortly – her press briefing is expected to start in the next few minutes.
I will bring you all the key lines here.
‘Russia must stop the killing and show genuine willingness for peace,’ EU26 says
26 member states of the EU have signed a new statement issued by the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, condemning the Russian attack on Kyiv on Thursday, calling out “the reckless nature of Russia’s attacks and its disregard for international law.”
The group – which includes all EU members states except for Hungary, which regularly refuses to back statements critical of Russia – stressed that “intentional attacks against civilians and non-military objectives are war crimes,” and warned that “all commanders, perpetrators and accomplices of these grave violations of international humanitarian law shall be held to account.
“These crimes only reinforce our determination and resolve to support Ukraine and its people in their defence against Russia and their pursuit of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace,” the statement said, promising to “continue and increase” support for Ukraine and “accelerate” the work on new sanctions against Russia.
Russia must stop the killing and show genuine willingness for peace.
Ukraine’s top military chief speaks with ‘Coalition of the Willing’ on security support for Ukraine
Separately, Ukraine’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi just said he spoke with his counterparts from member countries of the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” about steps that could help secure a just and lasting peace in the war with Russia, Reuters reported.
“Jointly developed practical solutions, supported by real mechanisms of political and diplomatic support from reliable partners of Ukraine, are capable of ensuring a just and lasting peace for Ukraine and all of Europe,” he said.
Zelenskyy says security guarantees discussion needs leaders’ involvement, parliamentary ratification
During a meeting with reporters, Zelenskyy said that discussions by Kyiv’s partners on security guarantees for Ukraine should be “urgently” elevated to a leaders’ level, and that US president Donald Trump should take part, Reuters reported.
He said he expected to continue discussions with European leaders next week on what he described as Nato-like commitments.
“We need the architecture to be clear to everyone,” he said. “Then we want to connect with President Trump during a meeting… and tell him how we see it.“
Zelenskiy added that he would also like to see allies ratify any security guarantees through their respective parliaments.
“We want legally binding security guarantees. We don’t want (another) Budapest Memorandum,” he said, referring to a 1994 deal in which Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances.
Zelenskyy urges Monday deadline for Russia to agree to bilateral meeting on ending war
We are getting some news lines from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, via Reuters.
He is quoted as saying that Ukraine and its allies have agreed to wait until 1 September for Russia to show genuine willingness and readiness to take part in a bilateral meting on ending the invasion of Ukraine.
But he said that he expected a response from partners if Russia fails to move by this deadline.
Zelenskyy also argued in favour of moving talks on security guarantees to a more senior level of national leaders.
I will bring you full quotes when we get them.