{"id":1267,"date":"2026-04-01T09:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/1267\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T09:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:00:13","slug":"eu-top-diplomats-visit-bucha-to-mark-2022-massacre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/1267\/","title":{"rendered":"EU top diplomats visit Bucha to mark 2022 massacre"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bucha, Ukraine
Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n

The European Union\u2019s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers voiced their support for Ukraine\u2019s demand for accountability over Russian atrocities committed in Bucha, as they visited the small town on Tuesday on the fourth anniversary of a massacre there.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces killed several hundred people in Bucha shortly after the start of the invasion in 2022.\u00a0Kallas and around a dozen EU foreign ministers and other senior European officials made the trip there, amid tensions within the bloc over EU aid for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynsky attend a commemoration ceremony at the memorial installation for the victims of attacks and executions by Russian troops, during marking the fourth anniversary of the liberation of the town, amid Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, in Bucha, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on 31st March, 2026. PICTURE: Eduard Kryzhanivskyi\/Press Service of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine\/Handout via Reuters<\/p>\n

\u201cThis morning in Bucha we were reminded of what is at stake,\u201d Kallas said in Kyiv after the trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no starker example of Russia\u2019s brutality than what happened there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Zelenskiy called on partners to remain focused on the war in Ukraine despite the widening impact of the US-Israeli war with Iran.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, images from Bucha are very often compared to the horrific scenes of the Second World War, but there is a major difference,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, that difference does not reflect well on today\u2019s world leaders, because Nazism was punished for its crimes, rather than receiving a partial easing of sanctions,\u201d he added, an apparent reference to a US waiver for some sanctions on Russian oil in the wake of the Iran war.<\/p>\n

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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space Andrius Kubilius, Foreign Ministers of the EU countries including Germany\u2019s Johann Wadephul, Italy\u2019s Antonio Tajani, France\u2019s Jean-Noel Barrotattend pose for a picture as they visit the memorial installation for the victims of attacks and executions by Russian troops, during marking the fourth anniversary of the liberation of the town, amid Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, in Bucha, outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, on 31st March, 2026. PICTURE: Eduard Kryzhanivskyi\/Press Service of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine\/Handout via Reuters<\/p>\n

Peace talks to end the war in Ukraine have been suspended due to the Middle East conflict, and officials in Kyiv have expressed concerns that weapons supplies could be diverted away from Ukraine as Western military resources are stretched.<\/p>\n

Europe to stand by Ukraine, Kallas says
Europe is now the main backer for Ukraine as it fights on against a bigger and better-equipped Russian army along a frontline more than 1,200 kilometres long.<\/p>\n

However, a \u20ac90 billion EU loan for Ukraine has been blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban due to a dispute over Russian oil transit via Ukraine\u2019s Druzhba oil pipeline. Hungary is also blocking progress on talks about Ukraine\u2019s accession to the EU.<\/p>\n

Kallas said European ministers should work for Europe and not Russia in response to a leaked phone call which appeared to show Hungary\u2019s and Russia\u2019s foreign ministers discussing EU sanctions in 2024, two-and-a-half years after Russia invaded Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must confront Russia, not bankroll it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
People visit the memorial installation for the victims of attacks and executions by Russian troops, marking the fourth anniversary of the liberation of the town of Bucha, amid Russia\u2019s attack on Ukraine, in Bucha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on 30th March, 2026. PICTURE: Reuters\/Gleb Garanich<\/p>\n

Ukrainian officials plan to use the visit of the senior EU officials to focus on increasing accountability for war crimes. Ahead of the meeting, Sybiha said eight countries confirmed their readiness to join the enlarged partial agreement for a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine \u2013 a planned, ad hoc European international criminal tribunal. He said he hoped that number would grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps more than anywhere else, it is here in Bucha that we feel the future of Europe and Europe\u2019s security are being decided right here \u2013 in Ukraine,\u201d Sybiha said. \u201cThe current frontline is also a line of international law and the shared values we uphold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moscow has said it will refuse to recognise the special tribunal and will view any country joining it as a hostile act.<\/p>\n

\u2013 With reporting by YULIIA DYSA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bucha, UkraineReuters The European Union\u2019s top diplomat Kaja Kallas and several EU foreign ministers voiced their support for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[1854,910,1855,416,442,329,330,331,1856],"class_list":{"0":"post-1267","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kaja-kallas","8":"tag-andrii-sybiha","9":"tag-bucha","10":"tag-bucha-massacre","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-kaja-kallas","13":"tag-russia","14":"tag-ukraine","15":"tag-ukraine-conflict","16":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116328636221372531","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}