EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced the EU will be summoning the Russian envoy in Brussels to protest the attack. She also said on Thursday that she had spoken with EU diplomats based in Kyiv following the Russian strike which damaged the EU mission building.
Foreign policy spokesperson Anitta Hipper also confirmed the move at EC headquarters:
“… we will be summoning the Russian chargé d’affaires. This meeting will take place today, so I can brief you afterwards. But the fact is no diplomatic mission should ever be targeted twice. This is our response.”
EU officials are now assessing how the mission will continue its work in Kyiv and the level of damage to the site.
You might be interested
Unacceptable
The mission, along with the UK’s British Council headquarters nearby, was damaged on Wednesday by shockwaves from two nearby strikes, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed earlier.
French President Macron, meanwhile, was one of many leaders who condemned Russia’s actions on X:
“This is Russia’s idea of peace. Terror and barbarism. More than a dozen dead, including children.”
The number of children reportedly killed in the strikes has now risen to four, with total fatalities numbering 14 or more. During the night, Russia launched more than 600 missiles and drones, Ukrainian officials confirmed. Both missiles that damaged the EU mission landed within 50 metres of the building, 20 seconds apart, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. As reported earlier, no staff were injured.
The overnight attack on Kyiv shows a deliberate choice to escalate and mock the peace efforts. – Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Outrage
Condemnation of the attack has continued to grow. Politicians and officials slammed Russia for the strikes. Many noted with harshness the peace deal the country—after US President Donald Trump met his Russian counterpart in Alaska—was supposed to be pursuing.
AFP and Reuters cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying the Kremlin remained “interested in peace talks with Ukraine” while at the same time confirming Russia would continue what it has called its ‘special military operation’. Much of the outrage expressed over Wednesday’s attack noted that the Kremlin was making a mockery of the peace process.
