Time to hit back...

Putin defies pressure for peace with massive strike hitting EU mission in Kyiv

EU building was severely damaged but staff are safe after an attack that Ukraine’s foreign minister said deliberately targeted diplomats.

By Zoya Sheftalovich and Nette Nöstlinger

The pressure being put on Vladimir Putin by Donald Trump and European leaders to end the war in Ukraine shows no sign of having an effect. Early Thursday, Russia launched a deadly attack on Kyiv that killed at least 12 and damaged buildings housing the EU and British delegations.

There were no injuries to EU staff in the attack. Commission spokesperson Arianna Podestà said Thursday: “The attacks are completely unacceptable. In no way will they shake our support for Ukraine.” She added that diplomatic staff would remain in Ukraine despite the attack.

The EU’s ambassador to Ukraine, Katarina Mathernova, said the building was “severely damaged by the shock wave” of the “massive” barrage of drones and ballistic missiles Russia launched at Ukraine overnight.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha accused Russia of having “targeted diplomats — in direct breach of the Vienna Convention.” The EU’s foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas called it “a deliberate choice to escalate and mock” peace efforts, and said the Russian envoy in Brussels was being summoned.

The British Council’s Kyiv office, which is close to the EU delegation building, was also hit. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the attacks were “senseless” and added that “Putin is killing children and civilians, and sabotaging hopes of peace. This bloodshed must end.” According to Sky News, the Russian ambassador to the U.K. will be summoned by the Foreign Office.

French President Emmanuel Macron was among those who condemned the attacks, which he described as “terror” and “barbarism.”

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a press conference in Estonia that “this cannot remain without consequences” and the Russian attacks will be discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Copenhagen.

The strikes come as Trump is ramping up pressure on Putin as he seeks to forge a peace deal to end the war.

Ukraine has made Western-backed security guarantees a central demand in any settlement to prevent further Russian attacks. After the country’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some of his key European backers gathered in the White House on Aug. 18, Trump’s administration signaled it would support a European-led force helping guarantee Ukrainian security, providing intelligence assets and battlefield oversight and taking part in an air defense shield.

But while Trump said afterward that he would soon convene a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy, and that the Russian had agreed to the idea, Kremlin-watchers have cast doubt on Putin’s intentions.

The Russian president has prevaricated, dragging his heels on any direct meeting with Zelenskyy and on peace negotiations.

Moscow has doubled down on its asks, including demanding that Kyiv cede the entire Donbas region, among them key strategic strongholds that Russia does not control. Zelenskyy has ruled that out, saying doing so would provide Putin a springboard for a future invasion. Russia on Wednesday also rejected the idea of European peacekeeping troops serving in Ukraine — contradicting Trump’s claim that Putin would accept them under a peace deal.

Thursday’s attack on Kyiv comes on the same day as the EU’s defense ministers are due to arrive in Copenhagen to discuss how to put more pressure on Russia via both sanctions and support for Ukraine.

Germany’s Wadephul said Thursday: “The Russian president is not yet ready to meet with President Zelenskyy. We will not be blinded by delaying tactics and will instead continue to support Ukraine with weapons, with all the necessary support, and with political backing on its path to the European Union and NATO.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said EU delegation staffers were safe, and called for Russia to “stop its indiscriminatory attacks on civilian infrastructure immediately.”

European Council President António Costa said the damage to the EU delegation building in Kyiv overnight was “deliberate,” adding that he was “horrified” by the Russian attacks. But, he said, “The EU will not be intimidated. Russia’s aggression only strengthens our resolve to stand with Ukraine and its people.”

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola condemned “another indiscriminate Russian attack during this senseless aggression,” calling the delegation “the EU’s voice on the ground in Ukraine” in a post on X.

“I strongly condemn these brutal attacks, a clear sign that Russia rejects peace & chooses terror,” the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said in a statement on social media.

“Our full solidarity goes to EU staff, their families, & all Ukrainians enduring this aggression,” she continued.