On Wednesday 4 March, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, stressed that the war in the Middle East should not overshadow Ukraine.
“As the world focuses on the war in the Middle East, we cannot let Ukraine slip off the agenda”, she explained to the press in Warsaw. In her view, while Moscow may have lost another ally with the Tehran regime - which supplies it with drones and missiles - the same drones that hit Dubai are also hitting Kyiv. “There is no sign that Russia’s war is slowing down”, she said.
Ms Kallas expressed her concern that the capabilities needed in the Middle East are also needed in Ukraine. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, expressed concern that the anti-missile systems his country needs are being used in the Middle East. On 3 March, he proposed to the United States’ allies in the Middle East that they exchange their Patriot missiles for Ukrainian drone interceptors.
The High Representative called for continued support for Ukraine, saying that “a broken pipeline should not hold Ukraine’s defence hostage“. The next set of sanctions must be implemented as quickly as possible, she added. Hungary is blocking the loan and adoption of the 20th package of sanctions against Russia until the Druzhba pipeline is operational.
Ms Kallas also explained that the conflict in the Middle East is distracting attention from the negotiations necessary for peace. In her view, while Russia’s maximalist demands remain unchanged, the EU has a clear and legitimate interest on how this war should end. “If we do not articulate this ourselves, no one will do it for us. And if we wait too long, it might be too late. Respect for borders (...), compensation for war damages and the return of kidnapped Ukrainian children aren’t just far-fetched demands. They should be the baseline”, she pointed out. And she added that: “Russia’s maximalist demands cannot be met with minimalist response”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)