Speaking ahead of the European Arctic Summit in Finland, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the train incident near the Ukraine-Poland border was intended to reduce Western countries’ support for Ukraine.
Kallas said Russia could achieve its goal of dividing Ukraine if Europe failed to maintain its support for the country. Saying that Russia’s objective was not limited to Ukraine, Kallas said Europe needed to adopt a resolute stance.
Arctic strategy and military competition
Kallas said leaders would discuss some of the proposals in the new Arctic strategy that the European Commission plans to present in October, drawing attention to the region’s military and strategic competition.
Kallas said Russia had modernized and brought back into use some Arctic military bases dating from the Soviet era. She said climate change was opening new sea routes that were important to the rest of the world, adding that this development had made the intensifying struggle for power in the Arctic more visible.
Claim about the train incident
Kallas said that, near the Ukraine-Poland border, Russian drones struck another train minutes after a train carrying European officials had passed. She argued that the incident was intended to deter Western countries from supporting Ukraine and from traveling to the country to demonstrate their support.
A train carrying European politicians and diplomats was struck minutes after it had passed through an area near the Ukraine-Poland border. The train was said to have carried former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and UK National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell.