What can the EU's Ukraine diplomacy achieve? MEPs in The Ring

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What can the EU's Ukraine diplomacy achieve? MEPs in The Ring  Is Moscow deliberately escalating the war in Ukraine? The increasing number of Russian drone incursions into European airspace has left the EU struggling to come up with a swift response. Is more defense spending the right answer? And what to do with the money?  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/06/03/what-can-the-eus-ukraine-diplomacy-achieve-meps-in-the-ring  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:08Hello and welcome to The Ring, Euronews' weekly debate show broadcasting from the European

00:14Parliament in Brussels. I'm Stefan Grobe. On The Ring, debaters go face-to-face on some of

00:20the biggest political issues facing Europe. Today, we want to talk about the latest from

00:25the war in Ukraine. What's the answer to Russian drone attacks? And what can European diplomacy

00:31achieve? Luis Alberto explains. As the war in Ukraine grinds into its fifth summer,

00:40a peaceful solution remains as elusive as ever. The same can be said about a clear European

00:46strategy. Nowhere is this more evident than in the European response to the ongoing violations

00:52of EU airspace by Russian drones. The latest incident in Romania last week yielded strong

01:00condemnation, but nothing more. This is frustrating especially the Baltic republics, who fear to

01:05be in the Russian crosshairs next. Is Europe just eager to avoid a more serious confrontation

01:12with Moscow? Are some European leaders concerned that they might jeopardize their potential role

01:17as mediators in this conflict? And is this even realistic as Europe remains Ukraine's strongest

01:22political and economic backer?

01:29A lot to unpack here for our contenders. And here they are.

01:35Rasa Jugnavićine, a Lithuanian MEP from the Central-Right European People's Party. She is the

01:41Vice Chair of the Delegation to the Uranist Parliamentary Assembly and a member of the Committee of Foreign

01:48Security and Security. She said, I do not believe in deals with Putin. Peace negotiations are possible,

01:55but only after a ceasefire.

01:57Merja Kulunin, a Finnish MEP from the left and a member of the Committee on Security and Defense.

02:04A former Finnish transport minister, she has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine and has called for frozen

02:10Russian assets to be made available to support the country. She has also warned against complacency towards

02:16Moscow. In some countries, there is still a naive attitude towards Russia. She said, arguing that Europe

02:22must take the Russian threat seriously.

02:27So, let me welcome to the ring Rasa Jugnavićine and Merja Kulunin. Great to have you here,

02:34both of you. Good to see you.

02:35Hello.

02:36Now, the aim of the ring is to offer our viewers a glimpse at European Parliament debates. So,

02:42you should feel right at home. Are you ready?

02:45Yes.

02:45Good. Now, I want to start with that incident that happened last week. The Russian drone attack,

02:53the drone that crashed into an apartment building in Romania. After that, EU leaders portrayed it

03:01not as an isolated incident, but as evidence that Russia's war against Ukraine is increasingly spilling

03:07across borders. Now, what conclusion should Europe draw now? Merja, I start with you.

03:15Definitely, condemns is not enough. We need to fix up our capability, security, secure our countries,

03:25our people, because scare, scariness is the biggest weapon which Russia is using. And scariness,

03:33when it's going ahead, it makes us weak. And I think the drones, all the security which we can

03:46do with drone, we have speak about the drone wall, but we need more sensors, the new technology,

03:53and definitely use money wisely over the military budget also, because there's other operators which are

04:03dealing with these cases. And, for example, I have learned it from my home country, Finland,

04:08that we haven't been able to activate the system in other parts than only the military side.

04:15And I think the civil societies are urgent in this case.

04:20Rasa, you're from Lithuania, a country that, as we heard, is always at the crosshairs of Russia,

04:27so everybody believes. When you hear these news after Romania, after the incursions in the Baltic

04:34States, in Poland, what is your take? My take is the same as it was in the very beginning when

04:40this

04:40war started, and not only in 2022, but in 2014. We were warning all the time, Europe, NATO, other many

04:52countries. That is serious. It's not only regional war somewhere. And today, I think we are in a better

04:59situation as the European Union, as many NATO countries, because we have almost right diagnosis

05:06on the table. As medical doctor in the past, I have to say, and it's very important for politicians as

05:14well. First of all, to have the right diagnosis. Drones are only one piece of the whole picture,

05:22puzzle, which we have. So the picture, the whole picture is that Russia is a colonial, imperialistic

05:31state, and they will not stop just with Ukraine or only a piece of Ukraine. So this diagnosis is not

05:40yet on agenda, on the table in many, in all the countries. So if we want to have a proper

05:48treatment

05:50against drones, I don't know, against everything, we have to understand that we have to help Ukraine to

05:56win this war and to not to be afraid to defeat Putin. It was mentioned fair in video, in this

06:03short video.

06:04No, we don't feel fair because we, like Ukrainians, we would like to convince others not to be afraid to

06:12defeat this evil of 21st century. They want to make us weak, make us fight together, make us not trust

06:21to

06:21each other. That's the political game. That's the colonial kind of game also, what they are using. So NATO condemned

06:29this

06:30attack, but stopped short of treating it as an armed attack that could trigger article five,

06:39the famous self-defence, collective defence clause. Was this the right thing to do? Sort of condemning it,

06:47but also signalling that this, we don't think this is a, you know, a casus belli.

06:55I'm a little bit worried that we are waiting for the big bang to happen because Russia is testing us

07:03and when it will happen that something bigger comes, either to Baltic countries, either to Finland

07:11or to Poland. I think we are the next targets and the diplomacy and the condemn things, okay,

07:19it helps us a little bit, but actually something which is much more than this is the power that we

07:29need to

07:31say it out loud, that we are not giving up. Now, the Russians are saying, and obviously that apartment

07:39building in Romania was a sort of a random target. The Russians are saying that it's actually the Ukraine's fault,

07:44because they're jamming the airwaves and that makes drones difficult, difficult to operate. What do you

07:50make of this argument? Look, it is not the case to start to look drone, Ukrainian, Russian or something

07:57else. Russia is responsible for this war. Russia is responsible for all drones in Ukraine, in our space,

08:07or Putin is responsible that people of Russia now is suffering because of Ukrainian response. They are

08:14defending themselves. So here, coming back to your question about NATO response, what is lacking, I think,

08:24to understand that we are strong enough to be able to help Ukraine to win and not to be afraid.

08:33And Putin has to

08:36get a message that we are strong and we are ready. Now, still, now the situation is a little bit

08:42better.

08:43But remember, in the very beginning of this large-scale war, what messages were sent to Putin? Oh, please,

08:50for us, for everybody, we are afraid of the World War III. Don't attack Russian targets deep in Russia.

08:58We don't, we will not provide leopards. We will not provide with long-range missiles. What was the

09:06message to Putin? The message was, we are afraid. So today, we have to say in a very clear way,

09:14we have

09:15enough resources to do everything the best to defend ourselves, including the targets in Russia. Don't be

09:23afraid for that. Because if we are afraid of escalation, so Putin is opportunistic. Okay,

09:30so has our response been lukewarm so far? I think we, as Eastern borderline countries,

09:40have a different side of this picture than, for example, in the central part of Europe. And that

09:48worries me a lot, because this is also a media war. Because the information we give to other

09:55countries, information we give to Russia, the Russian people, I still can go to Spain or France

10:02and see in the telly the Russian news. And it shocks me because it means that we don't act like

10:13we are

10:13all in war with Russia. Speaking about worry. So after this incident, Dmitry Medvedev,

10:22who you all know, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said this, and I quote,

10:27EU countries need to shut up on this matter. European states are direct participants in the war against

10:33Russia. This will continue to happen and EU citizens will not be able to sleep peacefully.

10:40How worried should we be? So what? So what? We, of course, are at war helping Ukraine to win.

10:48Of course, we are at war because Russia is conducting already hybrid warfare in our member states. So we

10:56have to admit this and not to be afraid what Medvedev is saying is vice versa. Look, you mentioned Russia

11:04today or all those outlets in other European countries. Imagine if during the World War II,

11:12Hitler propaganda would be broadcasted in countries they are fighting against Hitler. So today we have

11:20this totalitarian regime with the very concrete name, Russian world. And this is exactly the same as it was

11:30maybe in the 21st century, Hitler and Stalin together. So we have to admit, all of us, if we are

11:37fighting,

11:37we have to fight. All right. Let me stop you here. As we're just getting warmed up, it's time now

11:44for gloves off.

11:51Now we want viewers to get a real flavor of the European Parliament chamber where members ask each other

11:57questions. That means we want our debaters to challenge each other directly, just as you do in the normal

12:03hemicycle. So let's get started. Rasa, let's start with you. My question is, what is your assessment of

12:10Donald Trump's nearly year-long efforts to negotiate deals with Putin?

12:17I hate the situation that he is dealing over us. I got the feeling that we need stronger leadership in

12:30the EU. I have said that if the bigger ones can't do it, we as the smaller EU countries should

12:37do that.

12:38I'm not saying that diplomacy is the case, how we can solve all the problems. But we are partners with

12:47Ukraine. And in any case, in every way, we can support Ukraine in this situation.

12:54It's urgently needed to be done. And I wouldn't let these two guys destroy our future and decide over

13:06Europe and over Ukraine. I'm sure we come to this point later. But now your question to Rasa.

13:13You have said that you cannot be a neutral mediator. I agree. Europe is not neutral between an aggressor and

13:21victim. But if the US and Rasa talk about Europe's security architecture and Rasa drones are violating our

13:31airspace, who should speak for Europe with one clear mandate? Ukraine's sovereignty pressure on Rasa

13:41and protection of European citizens? Who could be? You know, I don't believe in Putin's

13:50engagement to talk to start any negotiations. Today, we have quite different situation as it was one

13:59year ago. And I think Putin and he feels, I think his, at least his surroundings, they feel that they

14:07are losing, they are not winning this war. Maybe not losing, but they are not winning this war. And they

14:13are

14:13really in very difficult situation. So that's why they are trying to escalate the situation. It's not,

14:21it's dangerous. Of course, we have to take it seriously. But nevertheless, not to start negotiations

14:27about everything, about the future of Russia, about everything. We have to start to talk with him. First,

14:35precondition is ceasefire. And then to start to talk about the peace, but not about, you know,

14:43everything. So today, what I am missing in those talks among European leaders to start or not to start

14:49negotiations, the content, the understanding. We just started our show, our conversation about the right

14:59diagnosis. So until we don't have this right diagnosis, what we would like to achieve, and that

15:04is the evil of 21st century. So I can't imagine negotiations with Hitler in 1943 or 44. So for me,

15:15it's exactly the same lesson of history. We have to learn. Okay. So, well, we've heard the views from

15:22our guests so far. Now it's time to hear from a new voice. For our quote of the week, I

15:32would like to bring

15:32in Kaya Kalas, the EU's chief diplomat at the latest EU summit in Cyprus. She said this, Russia wants us

15:41to

15:41discuss who talks to them, and they are already picking who is suitable for that. Let's not walk into that

15:48trap.

15:50Are we walking into a trap here? Your comment, Maria? Yes. We didn't make things like that,

15:57that he can choose who is the operator. So there are basically two schools of thought here. One says,

16:06people are dying in this conflict. We need to put an end to this. That's why we need to find

16:11a negotiated

16:12solution. And the other position is, it's Russia's war. Russia is not interested in negotiations, so we need

16:19to continue the fight until they withdraw or until they lost the war. Rasa, where do you come down on

16:26this? Look, it is not what we believe or not will happen. It already happened. One year of negotiations or

16:34attempts to make a deal with Putin from Washington DC failed. You mean with the American-led effort?

16:40Let's admit it. It failed. So is it something new? It is somehow, but also it cost a lot Ukrainian

16:50lives. It cost a lot. And we were very close to legitimization of Putin's regime. If Putin would be

17:00clever enough to agree on those, I would say, to make the deal which was proposed. It didn't happen.

17:11I don't know what will happen in the future, but now we have to strengthen our own defense. We have

17:17to

17:17help Ukraine as much as possible today. This is the main precondition for the future, just peace in the

17:26future. The only precondition. Maria, would you say that we need to wait until the solution is found on

17:34the battlefield until Ukraine won the war and then we can talk and not earlier? I think we need to

17:41definitely pressure Rasa much more hard weapons than we are using now. How can we do that? I mean,

17:49the financial, the market, all the things we can do with the oil, with systems we have, the capability

18:00with EU have in others than only the military help to Ukraine. But I think we need also support more

18:09Ukraine. Militarily, you mean? Militarily. Yeah. So all these top weapons that so far we haven't given

18:17them, we should give them. Yes. Of course. Everything they need. Everything they need. Look,

18:22I like this name, how they call strikes deep to Russia. They call it like long-range sanctions.

18:35It works. It works. Russia has to feel, they have to feel that they are at war. Russians as well,

18:44unfortunately. And I have very many friends from Russian opposition. I know how painful it is for all

18:51sides when war is going on. But nevertheless, no one war was one only defending yourself. It's as a former

19:02minister of defense, I have to say this. It's reality. It is like textbook of every war. So when we

19:11were

19:11afraid to damage something inside Russia, we were wrong. We could win this war already together with

19:19Ukrainians, or maybe help more Ukraine to win this war. If end of 2022, beginning 23, when Ukrainians

19:29pushed back Russians from Kherson and Kharkov, that was a very good moment to provide Ukrainians with

19:36everything they needed. We were afraid to do this. We were afraid. All right. Let's keep defense spending for

19:43another conversation in a moment. And let's take a break now here on The Ring. We'll be back with more

19:50after this. Don't go away.

20:01Welcome back to The Ring, Euronews' weekly debate show. I'm Stefan Grobe, and I'm joined by Rasa

20:07Jugnevićine from the European People's Party from Lithuania and Merja Kilonen from the Left Group from

20:13Finland. At this point, let's take a look at European defense spending since the start of

20:19the war in Ukraine. EU defense spending went from more than 200 billion euros in 2021 to almost 350

20:27billion in 2024. This represents an increase of more than 60%. Defense spending reached almost 2%

20:36of EU GDP in 2024, up from 1.6% in 2023. Now, 25 of the 27 EU member states

20:46boosted defense spending

20:48in 2024. Now, your comments hearing these figures, Merja. I want more strategic thinking around EU

21:00using our defense money smartly. What does that mean? That means that we need to have common projects

21:12where we build up the security about air security, air defense, air security,

21:20build up new resilient systems around EU, because the common peace of our citizens is also the key to be

21:33prepared, as our former president, Sauli Niinister, in his report tried to teach us.

21:40So what worries me is that we don't have seen the whole picture. I think we are well prepared with

21:49Baltic country, with Poland, the eastern borderline. But how we can connect all the others to understand

21:55that we are... So is it really more money or is it spending the money that we have

21:59in a better way, a more efficient way? It's also more money. But the key issue is using it smartly,

22:08much more smartly and wisely than we have done before. And using it also the new technology,

22:16because what Ukrainians are saying to us, we are acting like everything is like in the old years.

22:25And things have changed. And we have to change our thinking too.

22:30Rasa, your point? Of course, increasing spending percentages are very important. And here, despite

22:40I have some criticism on Donald Trump, but on this I have to admit that his push to Europeans to

22:49spend

22:49more was very positive message and very positive things he did. We in Lithuania now our spending for

22:57this year will be 5.38 percent. So this is because we understand and people understand our reality.

23:06But on the other hand, I would say, I will quote Andris Kubilius, our commissioner for defense,

23:12not percentages, not percentages fighting in the battlefield. You know, we have to have,

23:18I will not repeat what you did mention, all those common understanding. So that's why me and many other

23:27more than 50 now members of European Parliament, including you, Maria, we created informal group for

23:35defense, European Defense Union. And we would like to push especially member states to wake up.

23:42Yes, I feel that some member states, they still live in the past as it was before. You know,

23:50as it is very famous quote of

23:55Politologist Clark, politicians think about next election, statesmen think about next generation.

24:03So now we have to be in one to think about next election. Of course, it's important,

24:08but to think more about next generation. You say there are 50

24:12like-minded members of parliament with you on this, but the parliament has 700 plus

24:19members. Where are the others here? My question is, is this a point where large majorities agree,

24:28even in the public, Maria, the rearming of Europe? I think we have just started because we realized that no,

24:40no, the big part of us share the same view, which, which is the situation in Europe or in white

24:48world.

24:48And I think always there has been a people who start the game. And I think 50 is more than

24:59good,

24:59because we have different countries, different political background, different history,

25:05different political history. And we can find colleagues from our countries, from different kind

25:12of background and build up a common understanding around this. I was surprised that we already

25:19have the 50 because there was, there was lots of people who were saying that, oh, we just look and

25:26check out things. I think we have made the wake up call. Now we have to continue.

25:31All right. Well, now it's time to move on to our fifth and final round.

25:40And now we want to do something different. I'm going to ask you a set of questions and you can

25:45only

25:45answer with yes or no. Should Ukraine agree to a ceasefire, even if Russia keeps some occupied territory?

25:57No, immediately. Oh, I think it's up to Ukrainians to decide, but I think yes.

26:04Yes. Yes. But not, you know, to recognize, not without recognition. It's very important.

26:12Should European countries send more weapons to Ukraine? Yes. Of course, yes.

26:17Should Ukraine be allowed to strike targets deep inside Russia with Western weapons? Yes. Yes.

26:25Have cheap drones made traditional military hardware less relevant? No, maybe not.

26:34Interesting. Should Ukraine join NATO before the war ends?

26:41No, I know that can't be possible. Yes. With one additional sentence. Ukraine today is acting as

26:51member of NATO. They are defending NATO member states. Okay. I have one more. Will this war still be ongoing

26:58in one year's time? Hope not. I am afraid. Yes, will. All right. And that final answer brings us to

27:09the end of this edition of The Ring.

27:11Thanks again to Rasa Jugnavietschene and Merja Kilone for a lively conversation here from the European Parliament.

27:19Thanks to our audience at home. If you like, you can continue the conversation by sending us your comments to

27:25the ring at euronews.com. We'd love to have your feedback. That's it for today. I'm Stefan Grobe.

27:31Take care and see you soon on Euronews.

27:34We'll see you soon on Euronews.

27:38We'll see you soon on Euronews.

27:45We'll see you soon on Euronews.

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