The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said ‘the free world needs a new leader’ and that it was up to Europeans to take this challenge

The EU foreign policy chief has declared that “the free world needs a new leader”, as European leaders threw their support behind Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, after the stunning White House confrontation between him and Donald Trump.

Leaders from across Europe expressed their solidarity with the Ukrainian leader after the fractious exchange with JD Vance, the US vice-president, and Trump, who claimed he was not “ready for peace” and accused him of “gambling with world war three”.

Although in general, the European leaders did not name the US president, their comments late on Friday laid bare the gaping rift between the US and its traditional allies in Europe over the war in Ukraine.

In a social media post, Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote: “Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine. We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the aggressor.

“Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge.”

MBFC
Archive

  • LeFantome@programming.devEnglish
    44·
    9 hours ago

    More than weakness, it stinks of incompetence. Vance was obviously there to start a fight to make Zelensky look bad so they could leverage him.

    Except they were so obvious about it that he came off as the winner. They cannot even set a proper trap (thank God).

    • jballsEnglish
      12·
      6 hours ago

      I’ve been trying to think what the Trump / Vance plan was. Like you said, it was obvious that Vance was there to pick a fight. But I couldn’t tell if they were legitimately trying to blow up diplomatic relations like they did, or if they thought they were going to get the upper hand in exploring Ukraine for their natural resources.

      Either way, it was disgusting to watch.

      • Showroom7561@lemmy.caEnglish
        7·
        2 hours ago

        But I couldn’t tell if they were legitimately trying to blow up diplomatic relations like they did, or if they thought they were going to get the upper hand in exploring Ukraine for their natural resources.

        It was a show for Putin. A test of loyalty.

        Just look at how they spoke of Putin as if he was reasonable and had reason to be upset with Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, they treated Zelenskyy as if he was the problem.

        Trump still denies calling Zelenskyy a dictator… From a few days prior.