EU Foreign Ministers, including Oana Țoiu, commemorated the Bucea massacre in Ukraine. Why the visit comes at a time of uncertainty

While the war with Russia continues, EU financial support for Ukraine is currently blocked by Hungary, and Kiev is already feeling the effects of the war between the US, Israel and Iran, writes Reuters.

Kaja Kallas, the head of diplomacy of the European Union, and several EU foreign ministers, including Romania's head of diplomacy, Oana Țoiu, were in Kiev on Tuesday to mark the fourth commemoration of the Bucea massacre and to express their support for Ukraine.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sibiha welcomed Kallas and other foreign ministers to Kyiv's Central Station on Tuesday morning, saying the European presence proved justice for Russia's atrocities was inevitable, Reuters writes.

EU foreign ministers and other senior European officials have also arrived in Bucea, where Ukrainian officials and human rights organizations say Russian troops have killed more than 400 people.

“Bucea has come to symbolize the cruelty of Russia's war,” Kallas told X. “The EU is committed to ensuring that these crimes do not go unpunished. Russia must be held accountable for what it has done to Ukraine,” the EU's foreign policy chief said.

Moscow has denied that its troops committed atrocities in Bucea and accused Ukraine of staging the incident.

Țoiu: “Each atrocity left unpunished fuels future aggressions”

Present in Ukraine alongside her EU counterparts, Oana Țoiu condemned “Russia's illegal war”.

“I lit a candle in memory of the men, women and children killed in Bucea. They will never be forgotten. Massacres of civilians, like the one in Bucea, should never have happened and should never happen again,” she said.

“When Ukraine bleeds, Europe bleeds. We, EU foreign ministers, today honored the memory of the innocent lives lost four years ago and reaffirmed our commitment to justice, as every atrocity left unpunished fuels future aggression,” the minister added.

“Bucea represents a profound tragedy, and today this community stands as a testimony to the unshakable social resilience of Ukraine in the face of Russia's illegal war,” she added.

EU loan delay

The visit comes at a complicated time for the EU and the bloc's support for Kyiv.

Europe is now Ukraine's main supporter. But a €90bn EU loan to Kiev has been blocked by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over a dispute over the transit of Russian oil through Ukraine's Drujba oil pipelines.

Hungary is also blocking progress on Ukraine's EU accession negotiations.

Ukrainian officials, Reuters writes, intend to take advantage of the visit of senior EU officials to Kiev to focus on increasing responsibility for war crimes attributed to Russia.

Ahead of the meeting, Sibiha said eight countries had confirmed their willingness to join the partially expanded agreement on the Special Court for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine – a planned ad hoc European international criminal court.

Moscow has said it will refuse to recognize the special tribunal and will consider any country joining it as a hostile act.

The effects of the war in Iran are already being felt

Sibiha at the same time called on partners to remain focused on the war in Ukraine, despite the growing impact of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran.

Peace talks to end the war in Ukraine have been suspended because of the war in the Middle East, and officials in Kiev have expressed concern that arms shipments could be diverted away from Ukraine as Western military resources are depleted.

Ukraine, which is facing a financial crisis, is also facing rising fuel costs due to higher oil prices.

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