EU leaders in Kyiv on third anniversary of Russia’s invasion – DW – 02/24/2025

The UK on Monday announced a new package of sanctions against people and organizations aiding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The package of measures targets “Russia’s military machine, entities in third countries who support it and the fragile supply networks that it relies on,” a Foreign Office statement said.

It includes 67 new sanctions designations and naming 40 new vessels under the UK’s Russia sanctions regime.

Britain sanctioned manufacturers and suppliers of machine tools, electronics and dual-use goods, including microprocessors used in weapons systems.

These were located in a number of third countries, including Central Asian states, Turkey, Thailand, India and China.

The package also targeted North Korean Defense Minister No Kwang Chol over the deployment of North Korean forces in Russia.

The French government condemned an incident in Marseille in which three improvised explosive devices were thrown at the Russian consulate, saying diplomatic missions are inviolable.

“France condemns any infringement of the security of diplomatic compounds,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

No one was injured in the morning attack, which came on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Spain will provide Ukraine with a new €1 billion ($1.05 billion) military aid package this year, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in Kyiv during an international summit marking the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion.

“We’ll continue supporting Ukraine as long as necessary,” Sanchez told leaders, emphasizing the need for both Ukraine’s government and the European Union to be present at any peace talks with Moscow.

“Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, and nothing about European security without Europe,” he added.

Meanwhile, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who also announced €3.5 billion of fresh aid to Kyiv, said at the summit that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was set on Ukraine’s “capitulation.”

“The war in Ukraine remains the most central and consequential crisis for Europe’s future. Putin is trying harder than ever to win this war on the ground. His goal remains Ukraine’s capitulation,” von der Leyen said.

Speaking to the summit via video link, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the Group of Seven (G7) rich countries should be willing to take more risks on sanctions against Russia, including capping oil prices, sanctioning Russia’s oil giants and going after banks that enable sanctions evasion.

Russia’s rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova said that Moscow has struck a deal with Kyiv and the Red Cross to evacuate some civilians from Russia’s embattled Kursk region, parts of which have been seized by Ukraine.

According to the official, the deal involves residents of the Kursk region who have already been evacuated to Ukraine’s neighboring Sumy region.

“There are people who are already in (Ukraine’s Sumy region) today. And there is an agreement with the Red Cross and the Ukrainian side that they will be evacuated to Russia through Belarus,” Moskalkova said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin informed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a phone call about Moscow’s talks with US last week, Kremlin said in a statement.

Putin “briefed the Chinese president on recent Russia-US contacts. The Chinese side expressed support for the start of dialogue between Russia and the US,” according to the statement.

Meanwhile, Chinese state media reported that Xi welcomed Moscow’s “positive efforts to defuse” the Ukraine crisis in a phone call with Putin.

Moscow and Beijing have been strengthening their military and trade ties since Russia sent troops into Ukraine, even though China has been trying to portray itself as a neutral party in the three-year-old conflict.

Ukraine and the United States are in the final stages of negotiations on a minerals deal, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna wrote on social media.

Stefanishyna said that “nearly all key details” had been finalized and that Ukraine had offered to sign the deal in Washington.

“We hope both US and Ukrainian leaders might sign and endorse it in Washington the soonest to showcase our commitment for decades to come,” she added.

Can US, Ukraine reach an agreement on critical minerals?

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In remarks marking the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for long-term and sustainable peace in Ukraine this year.

“This year should be the year of the beginning of a real, lasting peace. Putin will not give us peace or give it to us in exchange for something. We must win peace through strength and wisdom and unity,” Zelenskyy said at a summit in Kyiv.

He also proposed a complete exchange of all prisoners of war with Russia as the beginning of a process on ending the conflict.

“Russia must release Ukrainians. Ukraine is ready to exchange all for all, and this is a fair way to start,” Zelensky said.

Russia does not see any grounds to renew dialogue with Europe for the time being, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, hours after the EU agreed on a sixteenth package of sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

“The Europeans continue on the path of a sanctions nosedive, on the path of conviction in the need to continue the war,” Peskov told reporters.

“This conviction of the Europeans completely contrasts with the mindset of finding a settlement on Ukraine, which we are now doing with the Americans,” he added.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara backed a US initiative to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict but stressed that talks should involve both warring sides.

“We believe that a solution can be reached through negotiations in which both sides participate,” Foreign Minister Fidan told a news conference with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Ankara.

German conservative leader Friedrich Merz, who is on track to become the next chancellor after his CDU/CSU bloc won Sunday’s parliamentary elections, said Ukraine “must be part of peace negotiations.”

“Europe remains firmly by Ukraine’s side. Now more than ever, we must put Ukraine in a position of strength. For a just peace, the attacked country must be part of peace negotiations,” Merz wrote on social media on the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

“For a just peace, the country under attack must be part of peace negotiations,” he added.

An unknown person threw plastic bottles against the walls of the Russian consulate in Marseille in the south of France, and one of them exploded, police said. 

The attacker fled after the morning attack. There were no casualties, all staff and the Russian consul were unharmed, according to the security sources.

Some 38 firefighters were also on the scene.

The incident occurred on the anniversary of the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine. 

The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the French authorities to fully investigate the explosions.

The European Union imposed a new round of sanctions on Russia on Monday, on the third anniversary of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

This is the 16th EU sanctions package against Russia and includes a ban on primary aluminum imports, the sale of gaming consoles and the listing of 73 shadow fleet vessels. 

“This new round of sanctions not only targets the Russian shadow fleet but those who support the operation of unsafe oil tankers, videogame controllers used to pilot drones, banks used to circumvent our sanctions, and propaganda outlets used to spout lies,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said.

“We have to support Ukraine right now, more than ever,” Kallas said ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

European Union leaders arrived in Kyiv on Monday morning, showing solidarity amid tensions with the United States, on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion.  

“We are in Kyiv today, because Ukraine is Europe. In this fight for survival, it is not only the destiny of Ukraine that is at stake. It’s Europe’s destiny,” EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on social media with a video of her arriving in Kyiv alongside Antonio Costa, president of the European Council.

“A free and sovereign Ukraine is in the interest of the entire world,” von der Leyen said ahead of her meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday.

“We must speed up the immediate delivery of weapons and ammunition,” she said, calling for urgent military aid for Ukraine. 

Meanwhile,  Zelenskyy, on Monday, honored Ukraine’s resilience, calling it three years of resistance, gratitude, and heroism.

In a post on social media, he thanked all those defending and supporting Ukraine.

On the third anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine the United States is pressuring Ukraine to drop its UN General Assembly resolution demanding Russia’s immediate withdrawal in favor of a US-backed version that does not mention Moscow’s invasion. 

Both resolutions will be voted on Monday as Ukraine has refused to withdraw its proposal.  

The US draft urges a “swift end” to the conflict but does not reaffirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity, a key departure from previous US stance. 

Earlier, on Sunday, the US sent a diplomatic note, according to Reuters, asking countries to “vote no on any other resolution or amendments presented” during Monday’s meeting.

The Trump administration is also seeking a vote on its proposal in the UN Security Council.

The competing resolutions highlight growing tensions between the US, Ukraine, and European nations over Trump’s evolving diplomatic strategy.

European allies, frustrated by being left out of recent US-Russia talks, view this shift as part of Trump’s efforts to broker a deal with Moscow. 

Monday’s vote will be a test of global sentiment, particularly of the Trump administration’s strong-arm approach to UN diplomacy. Last week, Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia called the US resolution “a good move.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated German conservative Friedrich Merz on his election victory, expressing hopes for collaboration to “strengthen Europe” and bring peace to Ukraine.

“Europe must be able to defend itself, develop its industries, and achieve the necessary results,” Zelenskyy posted on social media. “Europe needs shared successes, and those success will bring even greater unity to Europe.”

After his victory, Merz reaffirming his campaign stance that Europe must take more responsibility for its own defense. He announced that strengthening Europe will be the priority.