The European defence ministers and their foreign affairs counterparts are meeting in Copenhagen on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 August, with the situation in Ukraine at the centre of their discussions. Europe’s heads of diplomacy will also address the situation in the Middle East.
Ukraine. The ministers will discuss military and political support for Ukraine, which is still under heavy attack from Russia despite ongoing diplomatic efforts.
On Wednesday night, Russia launched 598 drones and 31 missiles over Ukraine, including Kyiv, killing at least 18 people. This was the deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital since July, according to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“Two missiles hit in a distance of 50 metres of the (EU) delegation (in Kyiv) within 20 seconds”, explained Ms von der Leyen. The building was damaged, but the European Commission said that the delegation in Kyiv was open on Thursday and “fully operational”.
The High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, who spoke to the delegation staff, none of whom were injured, announced that she would be summoning the Russian chargé d'affaires in Brussels later today. For her part, Ms von der Leyen spoke by telephone with the Ukrainian and US presidents.
Europe’s defence ministers are expected to discuss ways of stepping up military support for Ukraine, including, once again, the release of the ‘European Peace Facility’ for Ukraine, which is still subject to Hungary’s veto, the High Representative’s initiative to send 2 million rounds of large-calibre ammunition to Ukraine this year, and the training of Ukrainian soldiers. 80,000 soldiers have already been trained by the EUMAM Ukraine mission.
The strengthening of cooperation between the European and Ukrainian defence industries will also be discussed. Denmark, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, is calling for more Member States to participate in the ‘Danish model’ of direct funding for the Ukrainian defence industry (see EUROPE 13682/23).
Following several meetings of the coalition of the willing in August, the ministers are expected to discuss the security guarantees that could be provided to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire (see EUROPE 13694/13).
The ministers will also discuss sanctions against Russia, with the Commission due to present a proposal for a 19th package of measures at the beginning of September. Wednesday night’s attack “shows that the Kremlin will stop at nothing to terrorise Ukraine, blindly killing civilians – men, women and children and even targeting the European Union. This is why we are keeping maximum pressure on Russia. That means tightening our sanction regime”, explained Ms von de Leyen, promising that the new sanctions would be “draconian”.
The ministers will discuss as well how to further mobilise the €200 billion of Russian public assets tied up in the EU. “We are advancing the work on the Russian frozen assets to contribute to Ukraine’s defence and reconstruction”, said the President of the European Commission. However, the EU institution does not specify whether the confiscation of these assets, which the Baltic countries in particular want to see, is one of the options on the table.
By the end of 2024, the EU and the G7 countries had set up a mechanism for preferential loans to Ukraine of around $50 billion, pledged against the profits generated by the immobilisation of these assets. Last week, the Commission indicated that it had received €1.6 billion corresponding to the revenues generated since the beginning of 2025.
Among the options being considered by the Commission is the possibility of investing the profits generated by Russian assets tied up in riskier funds in order to increase available income. “But we need to protect ourselves against these risks. It’s not easy”, said a European source to Agence Europe, stressing that “the subject is not at all consensual”.
Middle East. On Saturday, the foreign affairs ministers will also discuss the situation in the Middle East, at a time when the humanitarian situation in Gaza is catastrophic.
European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib told AFP on Wednesday 27 August that the situation had only “very partially” improved, calling on the EU27 bloc to show “political courage” in the face of the “tragedy” in Gaza.
A special report by the IPC, the UN-backed global hunger monitoring agency, confirmed on Friday 22 August that a “catastrophic” famine situation would affect almost a third of the population of Gaza by the end of September (see EUROPE 13694/18). In addition, only around one hundred World Food Programme (WFP) trucks have entered the Palestinian enclave every day in recent weeks, compared with almost 600 a day during the two-month ceasefire last winter. For its part, the Israeli army denounced, through a spokesperson, the diversion by Hamas of humanitarian aid, “delivered en masse in recent months” to finance the reformation of some 15,000 to 20,000 men in the north of Gaza-City.
The ministers are expected to take stock of the Israeli government’s implementation of the agreement reached with the EU last July to speed up the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, failing which, “concrete” European sanctions would be imposed if no progress is made (see EUROPE 13690/30). They could discuss the European Commission’s proposal to suspend the Hebrew State’s participation in activities funded by the European Innovation Council Accelerator, as part of Horizon Europe (see EUROPE 13690/2). Other measures could be put forward by certain Member States, as the one presented by the Dutch minister Ruben Brekelmans and the Swedish minister Maria Malmer Stenergard on Thursday in a letter to Ms Kallas, urging the EU to suspend the trade part of the association agreement (see EUROPE 13692/3).
They are also calling, among other things, for the adoption of sanctions against Hamas politicians, “extremist Israeli ministers who encourage illegal settlement activity and actively oppose a negotiated two-state solution” and violent settlers. A proposal to punish members of Hamas and violent settlers has been on the ministers’ table for several months now.
Other topics. On Friday, the defence ministers will discuss the state of preparation of European defence and the implementation of the ‘White Paper’ presented last March (see EUROPE 13603/7). They could look at the simplification work underway in the EU defence field following the presentation on 17 June of the Commission’s ‘omnibus’ defence package (see EUROPE 13661/6). The participation of Member States in the ‘SAFE’ instrument could also be addressed (see EUROPE 13696/6).
The ministers will work as well on the EU’s eight military missions and operations (EUTM Somalia, EUTM CAR, EUMAM Mozambique, EUMAM Ukraine, EunavforMed Irini, Eunavfor Aspides, Eunavfor Atalanta and Eufor Althea).
In addition, on Saturday, the foreign affairs ministers will discuss the working methods of their EU Council. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Mathieu Bion and Bernard Denuit)