Thursday, March 5th 2026
As global attention shifts to the escalating war in the Middle East, Ukraine should not be “saved” from the international agenda, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Wednesday.
“The war in the Middle East is expanding rapidly,” she told a press conference after the informal ministerial meeting of the Council of Baltic Sea States in Warsaw alongside Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, accusing Iran of trying to “sow chaos and set the region on fire by indiscriminately attacking its neighbors”.
She noted that EU foreign ministers will meet their counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council on Thursday to discuss the situation and possible next steps.
Addressing concerns that the conflict in the Middle East could divert military resources from Kiev, she acknowledged that key capabilities, especially air defense systems, are in short supply across the West.
Despite the growing crisis in the Middle East, Kallas stressed that the ongoing war in Ukraine remains a direct and immediate threat to Europe.
“While the world is focused on the war in the Middle East, we cannot let Ukraine escape from agenda. Moscow may have lost another ally in Tehran, but the same drones that are hitting Dubai are also hitting Kiev,” she said.
Regarding an Iranian missile headed for Turkey that was intercepted, Kallas said there is widespread concern that the conflict is expanding beyond the Middle East.
“Turkey is capable of shooting down these missiles,” she said, noting that states NATO members have mechanisms such as Article 4 and Article 5, while EU members can use Article 42.7. However, she stressed that any official response would require a request from the country concerned.
Sikorski, for his part, said: “Iran is expanding the war to countries that did not attack it, to a NATO country and to an EU country. There is a well-known saying: ‘It’s worse than a crime; it’s a mistake.'”
Meanwhile, despite US President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off trade with Spain, after Madrid refused access to the US base for attacks on Iran, Kallas did not mention this.
Kallas said that the EU has agreed to give Ukraine a loan of 90 billion euros (about 104 billion dollars) and stressed that the bloc must fulfill this commitment.
“A broken pipeline should not hold Ukraine’s defense hostage,” she said, referring to disruptions in oil shipments through the Druzhba pipeline, which were halted after an incident on January 27 that Kiev blamed on Russia.
However, Hungary and Slovakia accused Ukraine of deliberately blocking the pipeline’s restart for political influence.
After the suspension of shipments, Budapest and Bratislava halted oil supplies to Ukraine in response.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen has urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to speed up repairs, while Hungary proposed a fact-finding mission to assess the status of the pipeline and said it would accept its findings.
Kallas also called for swift passage of the next package of sanctions, including a complete ban on maritime services for Russian oil exports, arguing that rising oil prices are boosting revenues Moscow.
We use cookies to improve the experience and display ads (Google AdSense).
By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the use of cookies according to
Privacy Policy
and
Cookies Policy.
You can reject non-necessary cookies by clicking “Reject”.
Source: prizrenpost
Etiketa: Brief
