EU leaders in Ukraine for the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. The Kremlin: "Objectives not achieved, the operation continues"

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The leader of the EU Commission von der Leyen and the Prime Minister Costa have arrived in Kiev. “We will not give up until peace is restored. Peace on Ukraine’s terms,” von der Leyen said. Costa defined Hungary’s veto on the loan as unacceptable, but – he said – “sooner, rather than later, we will have the loan”. A trilateral with Zelensky is expected, then participation in the meeting of the Volenterosi organized remotely from Paris and London.

The group of European leaders who chose to go to Kiev was quite large. In fact, the President of Finland Alexander Stubb, his Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nausėda, the Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, the Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir, the Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa, the head of the Norwegian government Jonas Gahr Store, and his Swedish colleague Ulf Kristersson arrived in the capital.

The Kremlin: “Objectives not achieved, the operation in Ukraine continues”

“The objectives” of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine “have not been fully achieved”, and therefore “the special military operation continues”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this, quoted by Russian agencies. Peskov, accused France and Britain of a “blatant violation of international law” for their alleged “intention to transfer a nuclear bomb to Kiev” and added that “this information will be taken into account by Russia during negotiations on Ukraine.” Peskov, quoted by Russian agencies, was referring to statements by the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), according to which Paris and London were intending to supply nuclear weapons to Kiev to strengthen its position in the negotiations.

Zelensky: “Putin has failed”

Vladimir Putin “failed, did not achieve his war goals”: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this on the fourth anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Kiev “will do whatever is necessary” to achieve a solid and lasting peace,” Zelensky stressed. Ukraine is ready to do “everything” possible to ensure a solid and lasting peace, Zelensky says in a video message. “Putin has not achieved his goals. He didn’t bend the Ukrainians. He didn’t win this war. We have preserved Ukraine and will do everything possible to achieve peace and to ensure justice,” Zelensky said.

EU leaders: “Putin has not achieved his objectives, let’s increase the pressure”

“Russia has not achieved its military objectives in Ukraine. Failing to advance on the battlefield, it is deliberately targeting Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure, including energy, hospitals, schools and residential buildings, in the midst of a harsh winter. Ukrainians remain remarkable for their steadfastness, determination and resilience.” Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa and Roberta Metsola stated this in a joint note. “Putin’s war of attrition is progressively weakening Russia and we are determined to further increase pressure for Moscow to end its aggression and engage in meaningful negotiations towards peace,” they add.

“A new support package is planned for the emergency delivery of generators and humanitarian aid. To strengthen Ukraine’s energy resilience and avoid a recurrence of the current emergency, we are working with Kiev on a new energy security and preparedness plan, focused on repairing and strengthening networks, the rapid restart of damaged power plants and the accelerated deployment of decentralized renewable energy production.” Ursula von der Leyen, Antonio Costa and Roberta Metsola announced it in a joint note. “This winter, the EU and its member states have provided Ukraine with unprecedented energy assistance, along with air defense and anti-drone systems, as well as humanitarian aid,” they point out.

The mission files

Energy and support for Ukraine marked by the cold due to Russian bombs will be one of the main dossiers of von der Leyen and Costa’s mission to Kiev. Also with them were some European commissioners, including Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen. The EU will therefore try to meet Volodymyr Zelensky’s requests on the energy aid front. At the same time Costa will also address the case of the Drubzha oil pipeline with the Ukrainian president, which according to Budapest Ukraine is deliberately not repairing. In retaliation, Viktor Orban blocked the new sanctions for Moscow and the 90 billion loan to Kiev. The idea of the EU leaders is to ensure that the pipeline is repaired soon, so as not to provide any casus belli to Orban. Once the flow of oil is restored, Brussels expects Hungary to give the green light to the loan for Kiev immediately afterwards.

Costa: “The veto on the loan to Kiev is unacceptable, the green light will arrive”

Since the war broke out in Ukraine “we have a new EU. Then we have full agreement to support Ukraine” even if “sometimes it is not easy to make decisions.” The President of the European Council Antonio Costa said this while speaking to a group of international media, including ANSA, during the train journey to Kiev. On Hungary’s veto on the loan for Kiev, Costa added: “It is absolutely unacceptable that a member state does not respect what was agreed by the European Council. I am counting on all 27 member states to keep their commitments. Sooner, rather than later, we will have the loan.”

Von der Leyen: “Peace in Ukraine must be on Kiev’s terms”

Energy and support for Ukraine marked by the cold due to Russian bombs will be one of the main dossiers of Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa’s mission to Kiev. With them also some European commissioners – including Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen – and a group of leaders from the continent, including Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, Czech President Petr Paver. The EU will therefore try to meet Volodymyr Zelensky’s requests on the energy aid front. At the same time Costa will also address the case of the Drubzha oil pipeline with the Ukrainian president, which according to Budapest Ukraine is deliberately not repairing. In retaliation, Viktor Orban blocked the new sanctions for Moscow and the 90 billion loan to Kiev. The idea of the EU leaders is to ensure that the pipeline is repaired soon, so as not to provide any casus belli to Orban. Once the flow of oil is restored, Brussels expects Hungary to give the green light to the loan for Kiev immediately afterwards.

Budapest: “Kiev foments chaos to overthrow Orban”

Since the “decision” on the loan to Kiev was made, “Ukraine has used energy as a weapon for political reasons, interfering in the ongoing Hungarian election campaign in order to foment uncertainty and chaos and thus favor the rise to power of the Tisza party” to the detriment of Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The Hungarian Minister of European Affairs, Janos Boka, said this in Brussels, rejecting accusations about Budapest’s opposition to the green light for the 90 billion loan for Ukraine. “The Hungarian position remains unchanged – he highlighted -. We will not give in to pressure, neither from Ukraine nor from the EU institutions, and until transportation through the Druzhba pipeline is started, there can be no question of our contribution to decisions favorable to Ukraine”.

New GB sanctions on Moscow, oil in the crosshairs

Keir Starmer’s British government has announced yet another package of sanctions against Russia on the fourth anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. In total, 300 new measures are invoked, against companies and individuals in the energy and oil sectors in the supply of “military equipment” for Moscow’s forces. The focus is on “crucial” Russian oil exports and the pipeline giant Transneft, “responsible for 80%” of oil exports as part of what are defined as “the Kremlin’s desperate efforts to find buyers for its crude oil” already sanctioned by the West.

Zelensky, “Trump doesn’t fall into Putin’s game, stay by our side”

“They are playing with Trump and they are playing with the whole world. Putin thinks he appears convincing and can trust him. No, he is a terrible actor”: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in an interview with the Financial Times, in which he defined as “short-sighted” the belief that the war will end with the Ukrainian withdrawal from Donbass, because Moscow “cannot be trusted”, underlining that there is “more pressure on Kiev than on Moscow” regarding territorial concessions. Zelensky, this time on CNN, then invited the US president to “remain at Ukraine’s side”.

Macron: “The war in Ukraine is a triple failure for Russia”

The war in Ukraine “is a triple failure for Russia: military, economic and strategic”: the French president, Emmanuel Macron, writes this in a message published on X four years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “While the Kremlin promised to conquer Ukraine in a few days, only 1% of Ukrainian territory was conquered,” Macron notes, adding that Kiev “even regained some ground. At what cost to the Russians? Over 1.2 million Russian soldiers were wounded or killed – the highest number of Russian combat casualties since World War II World”https://gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/mondo/2026/02/24/i-vertici-dellue-in-ucraina-per-il-iv-anniversario-dellinvasion-russa-il-cremlino-obiettivi-non-raggiunti-lassociazione-continua-6fde434c-1a56-49a8-be17-b19f465dda1d/.” faced with these losses – continues the French leader – Russia is recruiting people from the African continent to fight on the Ukrainian front, often without any preliminary training”. And again: “This war is a triple failure for Russia: military, economic and strategic. It strengthened NATO, whose expansion it sought to prevent, united the Europeans it aimed to weaken and exposed the fragility of an obsolete imperialism.”

Salvini: “We need a diplomatic effort from everyone to achieve peace”

“Four years of war, death and destruction, every day that passes is a day too many. Today more than ever, a diplomatic effort is needed from everyone, no one excluded, to follow the path traced by the Holy Father and the USA and finally arrive at PEACE. The leader of the League, Matteo Salvini, writes this on X.

Merz: “The fate of Ukraine is our fate”

“The fate of Ukraine is our fate.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wrote this on Europe”https://gazzettadelsud.it/articoli/mondo/2026/02/24/i-vertici-dellue-in-ucraina-per-il-iv-anniversario-delli Russian-invasion-the-Kremlin-objectives-not-achieved-the-operation-continues-6fde434c-1a56-49a8-be17-b19f465dda1d/.”Solo with a common strength we will be able to put an end to it. Because the destiny of Ukraine is our destiny”, he concludes.

Berlin, Paris and Warsaw: “We need a just peace for Kiev”

“The Europeans have a clear plan: a just peace in Ukraine.” For this reason they are ready to “increase pressure on Russia”, while the will to support Kiev remains “unshakable”. This is what the foreign ministers of the E3, the German Johann Wadephul, the French Jean-Noel Barrot and the Polish Radoslaw Sikorski, wrote in a joint speech in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion. In the message entitled “Europe is out of breath”, they state: Putin’s plan has “massively failed”, NATO is “more united than ever”, and Europe is “stronger and more resilient”.