EU responds to Russian strike on Ukraine
They stated this on the social media platform X, Ukrinform reports.
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel noted that "Russia claims to want peace, but bombarded Ukraine during Christmas and again last night with drones and ballistic missiles."
"These are not signs of peace. If Russia wants to engage in serious diplomacy, it must stop attacking Ukraine," van Weel wrote.
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said that "Russia delivers terror, war, death and destruction, while the world marks Christmas in peace."
"Kremlin's brutality targeting residential areas and energy infrastructure, injuring and killing civilians in Ukraine, is visible to all. More pressure on Russia is needed to stop this," Braze wrote.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called Russia's shelling a "deliberate effort to sabotage and poison any serious diplomatic effort to end the war."
"During the Christmas season - when families should be together in safety - Moscow once again chose terror over peace. Putin continues to refuse to stop the killing, and the pressure on Russia remains insufficient. This is not the conduct of a state seeking an end to the war. It is a calculated campaign of terror and escalation. For the Kremlin, genuine peace undermines its imperial ambitions - and that is precisely why it is rejected," Budrys wrote.
According to him, pressure on Russia remains insufficient. "Ukraine needs security guarantees asap: a strong and well-funded Ukrainian army; a future anchored in the European Union and the stability it brings; US-backed security guarantees, and the Coalition of the Willing, ready to defend Ukraine's sky, land, and sea," he added.
President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Pere Joan Pons Sampietro wrote on X that he condemns Russia's latest attacks on Ukraine's civilian population and civilian infrastructure.
"This is not the way to show love for peace, which Russia claims," Sampietro emphasized.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen emphasized that Russia's reaction to diplomatic efforts has remained unchanged: relentless drone and missile strikes targeting Ukrainian cities.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that "contrary to President Trump’s expectations and despite the readiness to make compromises by Zelensky, Russia attacked again Kyiv’s residential districts."
As Ukrinform previously reported, air defense forces neutralized 474 drones and 29 missiles launched by the Russians against Ukraine since the evening. In total, Russia launched 559 aerial attack weapons: 40 missiles and 519 UAVs of various types.
In Kyiv, a 71-year-old man was killed as a result of the massive Russian attack, and 32 people were injured, including two children.
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