BRUSSELS: The European Union summoned Moscow’s envoy in Brussels on Thursday following a massive attack on Kyiv that killed at least 14 people and damaged the bloc’s diplomatic mission.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen addressed the press in Brussels after the strike, calling it proof “the Kremlin will stop at nothing” and vowing to uphold “maximum pressure” on Russia.
The overnight drone and missile strike “was an attack also on our delegation”, the European Commission president said.
“It shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians, men, women and children, and even targeting the European Union,“ she told reporters.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced on X that the bloc was “summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels,“ warning: “No diplomatic mission should ever be a target.”
Von der Leyen said she had spoken with the EU’s deputy ambassador on site, and was “relieved that none of our staff were harmed.”
But she said the attack struck in “close proximity” to the bloc’s diplomatic mission, with two missiles hitting within 50 metres of the delegation in the space of 20 seconds.
EU officials shared a picture of the inside of an office with the windows blown out, ceiling partially hanging down and debris scattered on the floor.
They also released an aerial view showing an obliterated building in the vicinity of the diplomatic mission.
Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper told reporters the EU delegation was still “fully operational” and that “our staff will remain present in the country”.
But von der Leyen said the damage was “another grim reminder” of the need to keep “maximum pressure on Russia”.
“That means tightening our sanctions regime” with a 19th package of measures against Moscow, and “advancing” work on how best to exploit hundreds of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, she said.
EU countries are currently using interest earned from the assets to help arm Ukraine and finance its post-war reconstruction, a windfall worth between 2.5 billion euros and 3 billion euros a year.
Von der Leyen also announced she would be travelling from Friday to seven countries on the EU’s eastern flank “that are strengthening and protecting our external borders, with Russia and Belarus.” – AFP
