Foreign Affairs Council: Press conference by High Representative Kaja Kallas

Check against delivery!

Good afternoon.

We just concluded the Foreign Affairs Council.

First, we had a discussion on foreign influence, manipulation and interference. Today's wars are not only fought with tanks and drones. They are also fought with lies and algorithms. FIMI is a weapon aimed at the heart of our democracies. Russia will spend billions on influence campaigns only this year. China's foreign information operations are growing more sophisticated and insidious. We cannot afford to lose the information battle.

Winning a fight requires a shield and a sword. We are already building the democracy shield, now we must also sharpen our proverbial sword. That means moving from rapid alerts and assessments towards pushing back harder against adversaries online. And today, Ministers reconfirmed the need for clearer communication of our values and what Europe stands for: reinforcing sanctions on FIMI networks and strengthening cooperation with law enforcement.

Now, on Ukraine. Tomorrow, we will mark a brutal and senseless anniversary. Four years on, Ukraine is paying a heavy price for Russia's fatal miscalculation, but also Moscow has failed to achieve any of its strategic objectives. Its military is bogged down. Its economy is in rapid decline, and Ukrainians are resisting and holding firm. Unfortunately, we did not reach an agreement on the 20th sanctions package. This is a setback and a message we did not want to send today, but the work continues.

Everybody understands that diplomacy is preferable to war, yet after a year of talks, we still do not even have ceasefire. It is not Ukraine that is the obstacle to peace, Russia is. We must flip the script: from pressure on Ukraine to surrender territory to what Russia must do to meet the basic conditions for a just and lasted peace.

Europe has a clear and legitimate interest in how Russia's war ends. For European interests not to become collateral damage, we must be clear about what we expect from Russia: respect for borders, end the end of sabotage, the paying of war damages, and the return of Ukrainian kidnapped children are not just far-fetched asks, they should be a baseline. So, before we talk to Moscow, we ought to be clear what we want to talk with them about. Russia's maximalist demands cannot be met with minimalist response.

At the same time, we continue to strengthen Ukraine. We will use better the European Investment Bank to fund defence industrial cooperation. As Russia is targeting energy infrastructure, we doubled contributions to the Ukrainian energy fund in the last year to 1.85 billion euros.

We are tightening the net around Russia's shadow fleet, including with the compendium on best practices. Today, we sanctioned more people for massive human rights abuses in Russia. I have also decided to limit the maximum size of the Russian Mission in the European Union to 40 people. We will not tolerate abuse of diplomatic power. And together with the Commission, we are working to keep potential hundreds of 1000s of former Russian soldiers out of the Schengen area. We do not want war criminals and saboteurs to roam our streets.

Then, on the Middle East, the real progress in Gaza hinges upon disarming Hamas and subsequent withdrawal of the Israeli forces. We discussed this with High Representative Nickolay Mladenov today, and also we had the administrator of the UN Development Programme, Alexander De Croo, to brief us about the situation in Gaza. The European Union supports Gaza's future. We have redeployed our EUBAM Rafah border crossing mission, but there are still too few crossings. We are the top donor to Palestinians, and we work on expanding the training of the Palestinian police.

Ministers also addressed the serious situation in the West Bank. Israel's expansion of powers there breaches international law and hits at the heart of any future Palestinian state.

The United States and Iran are inching dangerously towards war. The window of diplomacy is very narrow and, of course, we have many concerns with Iran: its nuclear programme, its ballistic missiles and support for terrorists that are also a threat to Europe. But any military intervention risks hard-to-control consequences. The EU has imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran. The designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation sent a clear message that there cannot be any impunity.

In northern Syria, the sudden change of power dynamics has upended he security at the camps holding ISIS fighters. This brings new risks, such as potential movement of terrorists towards Europe. Today, Ministers discussed how the EU can contribute towards more rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. We will also explore more support to Syrian women and children leaving the camps in cooperation with Damascus. As a co-chair, the EU will propose to use the Global Coalition to coordinate these efforts.

Ministers also discussed a range of other issues, including the situation in the Great Lakes, Western Balkans and Venezuela, but I will leave it here and take your questions.

Thank you.