Outraged over Russian strike on Kyiv, European defense leaders pledge pressure to end the war

BRUSSELS AP European defense ministers are meeting in Copenhagen to discuss the war in Ukraine the day after a Russian air assault on Kyiv killed people and badly damaged a European diplomatic compound Outrage over the attack propelled the political leaders of Europe s armed forces to condemn Russia even before Friday s meeting and call for stronger measures on Moscow like seizing frozen assets further sanctions and increasing backing for Ukraine s military and membership in the European Union They will also discuss European troops deployment in Ukraine to guarantee shield and monitor a peace that seems distant as American efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia appear stalled Everybody understands that considering how Russian President Vladimir Putin is mocking the peace efforts the only thing that works is pressure reported Kaja Kallas foreign agenda chief for the European Union Two missiles landed about meters from an EU diplomatic mission in Kyiv shattering the office s windows and doors but causing no injuries there The EU summoned the Russian envoy in Brussels over the attack The U N Assurance Council scheduled an crisis meeting on airstrikes against Ukraine on Friday afternoon at the request of Ukraine and the five European council members Britain France Slovenia Denmark and Greece Two of Ukraine s top envoys were set to meet Friday with the Trump administration regarding mediation White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Thursday attack on Kyiv She commented that Trump was not happy about this news but he was also not surprised Leavitt noted that Ukraine has also launched effective assaults on Russia s oil industry in contemporary weeks Perhaps both sides of this war are not ready to end it themselves Leavitt revealed The president wants it to end but the leaders of these two countries must want it to end as well In Copenhagen Kallas disclosed defense ministers from across the -nation bloc would discuss increasing sanctions on Russia ramping up defense supplies to Ukraine s army and European contribution to postwar assurance guarantees which could include EU training missions into Ukraine once a ceasefire is in place We are discussing in the present day how to change the mandate of those missions in order to be ready after any peace agreement is put in place stated Kallas who called for harsher sanctions targeting Russia s economic lifelines On Thursday the United States approved a million arms sale to Ukraine that will include extended-range missiles and related equipment to boost its defensive capabilities Lithuania s defense minister Dovil akalien reported that the attack on Kyiv on Thursday shows that hope now for peace is naive and that all Putin is doing is really stalling genuinely cheaply buying time to kill more people and to imitate sort of willingness to maybe stop his own murderous actions She stated Europe must deal with Russia more forcefully like seizing frozen Russian assets That is in fact one power that we are not using enough yet she revealed Over billion of Russian assets would be extremely helpful in both pumping this money in Ukrainian defense industry and buying American weapons Simon Harris Ireland s defense minister reported that more must be done to force Russia to end the war It s imperative that those of us in the European Union now consider further sanctions what more measures can be taken to increase the pressure on Russia to end this brutal and aggressive war on Ukraine and the huge impact that that s having on civilians he revealed European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen is beginning Friday a tour of EU nations bordering Russia or Belarus including scheduled visits to arms factories and demarcation installations She will start in Latvia Source