EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas avoided naming the US in her UN speech but indirectly criticised Trump’s stance on Europe, aid cuts, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine [Getty]
The European Union has a message for the Trump administration: It will continue supporting Ukraine against Russia’s 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 UN 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 US-Ukraine deal is now pending Moscow’s agreement.
Looking at the world 80 years after the UN was founded on the ashes of World War II, Kallas said its foundations are facing “unprecedented pressure.” She cited blatant violations of the UN 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 UN 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-defence 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 two billion euros this year, she said, a dig at the Trump administration, which dismantled the U.S. aid agency and is eliminating 83 percent of its programs.
Kallas also stressed the need to boost multilateralism and engage with partners, which “is the only way forward in solving issues”.
She was asked afterward about a Trump comment that the EU was created to destroy the US 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 UN 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”.
