EU foreign ministers to discuss Russia's war against Ukraine, situation in Gaza

VILNIUS – Lithuania's top diplomat Gabrielius Landsbergis is taking part in an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers on Thursday to discuss Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the situation in Gaza.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is expected to join the meeting to update his EU counterparts on the situation at the frontline, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign ministers will also discuss the next steps following June's Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland, EU military assistance to Ukraine, and preparations for the UN General Assembly High-Level Week to rally support for Kyiv from global partners.

In the session on the Middle East, to be joined by Sigrid Kaag, the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, EU ministers will discuss the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the bloc's support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire plan, and efforts to prevent further escalation of the conflict in the region.

EU foreign ministers will also meet with their Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, to discuss shared interests and challenges in foreign and security policy. 

Informal meetings of EU foreign ministers are typically held twice a year in the country holding the bloc's rotating presidency. However, following Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visits to Moscow and Beijing in July, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, decided to hold Thursday's gathering in Brussels instead of Budapest.