EU ministers to hold talks on Gaza, boost support for Ukraine

2025-08-29 14:24:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

European Union defense and foreign ministers will discuss continued support for Ukraine, as well as the worsening situation in the Gaza Strip, during two days of talks in Copenhagen, which begin on Friday.

The meeting takes place a day after Russia bombed the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, killing at least 21 people, including children, and injuring at least 48 others.

EU defense ministers will open talks on Friday on ways to increase military support for Kiev and enhance the bloc's cooperation with Ukraine's defense industry, given United States restrictions on arms support.

Foreign ministers' talks on Saturday will focus on plans for further sanctions on Russia, with the aim of putting pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire and engage in peace talks.

The EU has recently targeted Moscow's so-called "shadow fleet," ships used to evade energy export restrictions, as well as its energy revenues.

It is also expected to discuss possible security guarantees for Ukraine after the end of the war, as well as how to handle the frozen assets of the Russian central bank in the EU, which amount to around 210 billion euros.

The Foreign Ministers of Ukraine, Iceland, Norway and the United Kingdom have been invited to Copenhagen to join their EU counterparts.

The war in Gaza is also on the agenda

The war in Gaza is also part of the agenda on Saturday.

The EU is divided over how to respond to an internal report that found that Israel's actions in the disputed territory violate the EU-Israel agreement that obliges both sides to respect human rights.

While some EU countries, including France and Spain, support a tougher stance on Israel, others like Germany are against sanctions.

The Gaza war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel and took about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. The US and EU have designated Hamas a terrorist organisation.

Since then, more than 62,122 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-ruled government and made up of medical professionals.

In addition to this toll, 154 adults have died from malnutrition-related causes since the end of June, when the Ministry began counting these cases, and 112 children have died from malnutrition since the beginning of the war.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt are trying to mediate to end the conflict./ Rel