Canada joins the chat
Monday’s talks in Brussels also included a high-level meeting on the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, attended by Sybiha, Kallas and Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand.
While around 2,100 children have been returned to Ukraine, roughly 20,000 remain missing.
“I’m a mother of four, and this is the day after Mother’s Day in North America,” Anand told POLITICO ahead of the meeting. “We have much more work to do to bring children home to their mothers, to their families, to their country. And this is absolutely a priority for Canada.”
Kallas unveiled sanctions against more than two dozen individuals involved in Ukrainian child abductions, while Anand argued that like-minded countries should work together to fill gaps left by larger powers.
“In a world where hegemons are vacating the space, either in the global economy or in defense and security, middle powers like Canada need to step up and fill that space,” she said.
Sybiha described the children initiative as one part of a broader diplomatic momentum behind Ukraine. He also cited a €90 billion EU loan, stabilization along the front line and new defense deals with Gulf countries as signs that Kyiv has more leverage in any future talks with Putin.
Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union remains central to that leverage, Sybiha said. EU accession is a core part of the “security guarantees” Kyiv needs before it can sign any peace deal, and its focus remains on a “membership agreement” to be signed in 2027 rather than on any lesser arrangements, such as “associate membership,” as floated by Germany, he added.