News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 1st December 2024
European Council President Antonio Costa and Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy director, came in Kyiv on Sunday, using their first day in office to express their support for Ukraine in its fight with Russia. Their visit comes as Ukraine tries to hold off a relentless Russian attack and faces the uncertainty of US policy toward Kyiv once Donald Trump takes office next month.
“From day one of the war, the EU has stood by the side of Ukraine,” Costa posted on X alongside an image of himself, Kallas and EU enlargement chief Marta Kos arriving via train.
“From day one of our mandate, we are reaffirming our unwavering support to the Ukrainian people.”
Kallas and Costa have been staunch allies of Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022. However, neither can make concrete promises of more help, which require the support of the EU’s national governments.The EU claims its institutions and member countries have provided $133 billion in Ukraine aid since the war began, but future support is uncertain, particularly if Trump decreases US backing.
Trump has criticized the extent of supplies to Kyiv and stated that he will seek a speedy conclusion to the war, but has not specified how.
On the battlefield, Moscow’s troops are taking village after village in an effort to finally conquer the industrial Donbas region, while Russian bombers target Ukraine’s crippled electricity grid as winter approaches.
“In my first visit since taking up office, my message is clear: the European Union wants Ukraine to win this war,” Kallas wrote on X. “We will do whatever it takes for that.”
As Prime Minister of Estonia, which borders Russia, Kallas became one of Russia’s most outspoken critics. This year, Moscow added her to a wanted list for demolishing Soviet-era monuments. Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, is president of the European Council, where he coordinates the work of the European Union’s national leaders and chairs their meetings. During a ceremony in Brussels on Friday, Putin stated that after more than 1,000 days of the Ukraine-Russia war, everyone, “especially the embattled and heroic Ukrainian people,” desired peace.
“Peace cannot imply surrender. “Peace should not reward the aggressor,” he continued.
