EU's top diplomat pledges unified support for Ukraine and global
humanitarian aid in dig at US
[March 12, 2025]
By EDITH M. LEDERER and FARNOUSH AMIRI
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The European Union has a message for the Trump
administration: It will continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s
illegal invasion, step up humanitarian aid when others pull back, and
boost global teamwork to address the world’s challenges.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas never mentioned the United States in
her speech to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday. But her points were
clearly aimed at President Donald Trump ’s dismissive language about
Europe, his massive cutbacks in aid to poor and conflict-torn countries,
and his administration's reluctance to acknowledge that Russia invaded
Ukraine.
Following talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, the Trump administration
said it was lifting its suspension of military aid and intelligence
sharing for Ukraine, and Kyiv signaled that it was open to a 30-day
ceasefire in the war with Russia. The U.S.-Ukraine deal is now pending
Moscow’s agreement.
Looking at the world 80 years after the U.N. was founded on the ashes of
World War II, Kallas said its foundations are facing “unprecedented
pressure.” She cited blatant violations of the U.N. Charter, “attempts
to replace the rule of law by the rule of force,” and universal
principles promoting peace, human rights and development “under heavy
fire.”
At a news conference afterward, she said, “The world is more dangerous
now than it has ever been since the Cold War.”
Kallas told the council, “The EU will remain the U.N.’s reliable partner
of choice” and will defend the U.N. Charter, which says every country
must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
That’s why it has supported Ukraine’s right to self-defense and stands
with Kyiv “for a just and lasting peace in line with the Charter,” she
said, stressing that Russia must lose its “colonial war.”
The EU will always support rising humanitarian needs, with almost 2
billion euros this year, she said, a dig at the Trump administration,
which dismantled the U.S. aid agency and is eliminating 83% of its
programs.
Kallas also stressed the need to boost multilateralism and engage with
partners, which “is the only way forward in solving issues.”
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European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas arrives for an EU
Summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Thursday, March
6, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
She was asked afterward about a Trump comment that the EU was
created to destroy the U.S. when it comes to trade and was asked
whether the 27-nation bloc could overcome that antagonism.
Surrounded by diplomats from all EU member nations, Kallas replied
that the EU is “a peace project” created to ensure there would be no
more wars among its members.
Right now, “our relations with third parties around the world show
that everybody is looking at us because we are the reliable,
predictable partner,” she said. “So, I really see the possibility to
grow Europe’s geopolitical presence.”
The EU came under attack from Russia during the Security Council
meeting.
After Kallas pledged to continue EU support to Ukraine, Russia’s
U.N. ambassador blasted the European bloc for what it called a long
history of anti-Russian sentiment.
“This sensible club aimed at integration, which used to promote
cooperation with Russia, has today definitively turned into a
fossilized, aggressive Russophobia bloc, which has staked its
energy, economic, social and financial wellbeing on a pointless
confrontation with its eastern neighbor,” Vassily Nebenzia said.
“Today, more than ever, it’s clear that the EU is seriously losing
in this confrontation,” he said.
Kallas retorted that Nebenzia’s comments were a good example of
rewriting history and how “misinformation and disinformation” and
“lies” must be fought.
She said countries are afraid of Russia because of the countries it
has attacked, “and these fears are not ungrounded.”
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