‘Russia will not stop until they are forced to do so,’ Danish PM warns as she opens European leaders summit – Europe live | Europe
‘Russia will not stop until they are forced to do so,’ Denmark’s Frederiksen warns leaders
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen is now opening the formal proceedings.
Flanked by the European Council president, António Costa, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she says:
“For the last few months, there has been much talk about peace in Ukraine, with meetings, pre-meetings and briefings about the meetings, and meanwhile, Russia continues its brutal attacks.
It must be clear to everyone now: Russia will not stop until they are forced to do so.”
She adds that “we have one major task ahead of us: we have to make our common Europe so strong that war against us becomes unthinkable, and we have to do it now.”
Key events
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‘It’s our war, and if Ukraine loses, it means our failure,’ Poland’s Tusk warns
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We need ‘more unpredictability’ to strengthen our deterrence, Macron says, as he warns Russian drones ‘can be destroyed’
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Next steps need to focus on Ukraine’s air defence, drones, long-range missiles, and pressure on Russia, Macron says
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Russia’s actions show Putin’s ‘appetite’ to continue ‘unrelenting’ attacks on Ukraine and acts of interference across Europe, Starmer says
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Russia ‘still feels bold enough to escalate this war’ with drone incidents, Zelenskyy warns
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‘This war was never just about Ukraine,’ Danish PM warns, as she urges leaders to ‘no longer be naive’
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‘Russia will not stop until they are forced to do so,’ Denmark’s Frederiksen warns leaders
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Belgian PM repeats legal questions about using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine
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‘Why are we afraid’ of Russia, Hungary’s Orbán asks, as he insists EU is ‘stronger than they are’
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‘Degree of naivety’ in Ireland over ‘existential’ Russia threat, Irish PM warns
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Migration and Ukraine to dominate talks today, UK’s Starmer says
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Important to come together for talks with other European countries, Nato’s Rutte says
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European Political Community format brings leaders together for talks but some question its value – snap analysis
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Morning opening: Let’s talk Europe
‘It’s our war, and if Ukraine loses, it means our failure,’ Poland’s Tusk warns
Poland’s Tusk is up next, and he begins with congratulations for Moldova for a “spectacular” win of pro-European forces.
But he then strikes a very sombre tone, as he warns leaders that Europe is no longer in a pre-war period, but it faces a war.
“It’s absolutely obvious that we have to stop all … kinds of illusions. The first illusion was and is that there is no war. It’s in some of us, we like these [softer] definitions, like full scale aggression or incidents or provocation.
No, it’s, it’s a war – a new type of war, very complex, but it’s a war.”
He then discloses that Poland has experienced more security incidents in recent days, with the last one near Szczecin port just a few days ago.
“We [see] new incidents in our region, in the Baltic Sea, every single week. It’s almost every day,” he says.
He says that for Poland, this war is “not an abstract,” with multiple attempts to illegally cross the Polish border with Belarus “every day,” with some attacks on its soldiers, including casualties.
It is our war, and if Ukraine loses, it means our failure.
He says that looking at all sorts of measures, Europe is much stronger than Russia.
“The only [advantage of] Russia is here: they are ready to fight. They are ready to sacrifice something, they are ready to suffer, and this psychological advantage, this is why we are so sometimes we are … not decisive enough and not determined enough.”
He ends with a stark warning:
“Not only because of our history, because of geography, … we know something about the Russian intentions and plans.
We know that if they win against Ukraine, it is then, in the future, the end of my country and of Europe, I have no doubt.
And this is why we have to be as determined as Volodymyr [Zelenskyy, in Ukraine] and his people and as Maia [Sandu, in Moldova] and her nation.”
We need ‘more unpredictability’ to strengthen our deterrence, Macron says, as he warns Russian drones ‘can be destroyed’
Macron also talks about the recent provocations against Poland, Estonia and other countries.
He assures of France’s solidarity, and says the response from the alliance was clear.
He then also says “it’s very important … to g[et] to the end of the inquiries on what happened in Denmark” with drones disrupting airport operations.
He then sets out his plan for what’s next:
“I think the main answer should be more unpredictability and more strategic ambiguity.
And I think it’s, it’s very important to have a clear message. Drones, which would violate our territories, are just taking a big risk. They can be destroyed, full stop.
We are not here to provide the full notice. We will do what, what we have to do to preserve our air integrity and our territorial integrity.”
Next steps need to focus on Ukraine’s air defence, drones, long-range missiles, and pressure on Russia, Macron says
France’s Emmanuel Macron says “we are at a moment when Russia is clearly not getting its main objective,” as it’s “special operation” failed to get to Kyiv or change the regime in Ukraine.
“I think the situation is much better today than it was at the beginning of the year … [when] our fear was to have a sort of very rapid peace, and we had some doubts about the level of support of the United States,” he says.
He credits the work of the Coalition of the Willing for that, and stresses the success in “re-engaging with the United States” as he notes that Trump’s recent comments show “a huge change.”
“It’s very important, because for me, it’s a concrete case of countering the misinformation spread by Russia. No, Russia is not winning. No, Ukraine is not losing this war, and the situation is very different,” he says.
He says it’s now clear that Putin’s comments on engaging with a peace process were “not totally a sincere commitment.”
He adds that the next steps need to focus on Ukraine’s air defence systems, drones, and long-range missiles.
Macron also calls for swift adoption of the 19th package of sanctions on Russia, and calls to “step up” pressure on Russia’s shadow fleet.
“It’s extremely important to increase the pressure on this shadow fleet because it will clearly reduce the capacity to finance this [war],” he says, urging Europeans to “kill the business model” by “detaining, even for days or weeks, these vessels and forcing them to organise themselves differently.”
Russia’s actions show Putin’s ‘appetite’ to continue ‘unrelenting’ attacks on Ukraine and acts of interference across Europe, Starmer says
The leaders now move to form a panel (!), chaired by UK prime minister Keir Starmer, with Moldova’s Maia Sandu, Poland’s Donald Tusk, and France’s Emmanuel Macron set to face his questioning.
Opening, Starmer picks up the theme of Russia, and says:
“We’ve seen in recent weeks, the appetite that Putin has to not only rain down on Ukraine, but also to take action and to interfere, right across Europe, in many different ways, whether that’s in relation to our airspace, whether it’s cyber or other attacks that have been going on.
They are unrelenting, and they show an appetite to continue this, and we must fight it with everything that we have. And it’s a reminder for all of us … that this is not just a question of Ukrainian sovereignty, it’s a question of the values and freedoms of all of us, particularly in Europe, and that we are all in this fight in relation to the Russian aggression.”
He also talks about the need to strenghten Ukraine and Nato, more broadly.
Jakub Krupa
By the way, you can watch the live stream from the proceedings at the top of this page – or below here.
Russia ‘still feels bold enough to escalate this war’ with drone incidents, Zelenskyy warns
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is speaking next.
He immediately tells leaders that “we are all now in a new reality, and everyone, I think, understands it, even those who may not want to admit it.”
He warns that “the recent drone incidents across Europe are a clear sign that Russia still feels bold enough to escalate this war,” and wants to “divide Europe, to ignite arguments, to prevent us from finding common ground.”
“If the Russians dare to launch drones against Poland or violate the airspace of northern European countries, it means this can happen anywhere – in western Europe, in the south – and we need fast and effective response,” he says.
He urges leaders to fast-track adoption of the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, and asks them to “support President Trump’s call to stop buying Russian oil here, here in Europe.”
In a direct swipe at Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, he adds, “and the guys from Hungary need to hear this,” as he adds that he is confident that “energy from the US and other partners can fill the gap in the European market.”
He also congratulates Moldova, and pushes the leaders to open formal chapter one talks about Moldova and Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
European Council president António Costa opens his speech with congratulations for Moldova and its president Maia Sandu for the win of pro-European forces in last weekend’s parliamentary elections there.
He also congratulates the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan for their recent peace deal.
And he then goes back to Ukraine, stressing the importance of supporting Kyiv, as he says that what is at stake there “is not only Ukraine’s right to be a free and sovereign country, but it is in fact international law,” including the fundamental postwar belief that borders must not be changed by force.
‘This war was never just about Ukraine,’ Danish PM warns, as she urges leaders to ‘no longer be naive’
Frederiksen also praises Ukraine’s Zelenskyy, praising Ukraine for “defending Ukraine against a merciless, full scale Russian aggression.”
“You have done what no one thought possible, and you have our steadfast support,” she says.
But then Frederiksen turns to other leaders, as she warns:
“I know that for some of you, the threat from Russia is very clear and very present. For others, it still seems further away, but none of us can no longer be naive.
The war was never just about Ukraine. It is about Europe, all our nations, all our citizens, our values and our freedom.”
She goes on:
“Please just take one look at the history of our continent, from the expansion of the Russian Empire to Soviet tanks rolling across several borders during the cold war, shattering hopes of freedom.
Recent history tells us the exact same story. So why shouldn’t it happen again?
Russia is now converting into a war economy, using every mean, every opportunity, to intimidate, to threaten and to divide us, unfortunately, enabled by China, with soldiers from North Korea and drones from Iran, and I see no signs that Putin and Russia’s imperial fever dream stops with Ukraine.”
She stresses that “it’s not charity, what we’re doing in Ukraine, it is a direct defence of our continent.”
She says that Europe has begun moving in the right direction, but “we have to move much faster – we have to learn from Ukraine, your sense of urgency, building an incredible defence industry in just a couple of years.”
Drawing from Denmark’s experiences over the past two weeks, she adds a warning about the growing hybrid threats, posed by drones, misinformation, attacks on critical infrastructure, and “uncontrolled” migration.
‘Russia will not stop until they are forced to do so,’ Denmark’s Frederiksen warns leaders
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen is now opening the formal proceedings.
Flanked by the European Council president, António Costa, and Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, she says:
“For the last few months, there has been much talk about peace in Ukraine, with meetings, pre-meetings and briefings about the meetings, and meanwhile, Russia continues its brutal attacks.
It must be clear to everyone now: Russia will not stop until they are forced to do so.”
She adds that “we have one major task ahead of us: we have to make our common Europe so strong that war against us becomes unthinkable, and we have to do it now.”
Belgian PM repeats legal questions about using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine
Last night’s discussions on Russia and Ukraine largely focused on the question of using frozen Russian assets to finance loans to Ukraine.
But Belgium’s prime minister Bart de Wever is leading a group of countries that remain sceptical about the move as they are concerned about legal consequences.
Belgium is particularly exposed here, as more than a half of the funds are held at a Brussels-based clearing firm, Euroclear.
In his comments this morning, he said he had asked other leaders to give strong guarantees they would share the risks if frozen Russian assets were used to finance loans to Ukraine.
He suggested that Belgium would be ready to go forward with the plan only if its questions get answered satisfactorily, and that’s not the case so far.
‘Why are we afraid’ of Russia, Hungary’s Orbán asks, as he insists EU is ‘stronger than they are’
Ohh, that’s interesting.
As Poland’s Donald Tusk was chatting with a group of Polish journalists, one of them decided to shout a question in English to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who was talking to some Hungarian reporters nearby.
With a bit of encouragement from Tusk, Orbán walked across to the Polish group, where he was challenged with a simple question:
Who [poses] the main threat for Europe?
(Tusk quickly realised what’s going on, warning him: “It’s a provocation.”)
But Orbán kept his cool and replied:
– The real danger? Economic stagnation and losing competitiveness.
– Not Russia?
– We are stronger than Russia. Make some comparisons and base your opinion on the facts. We have more than 400 million people, Russia is 130 something. Look at the European GDP is [big] like that. Russia is [small] like that. We spend all together, the 27, more on military spending than the Russians. So why we are afraid? We are stronger than they are.
The question is whether we have, whether we have leadership to come together and to defend our interests together. That’s what we should do anyway.
‘Degree of naivety’ in Ireland over ‘existential’ Russia threat, Irish PM warns
Irish prime minister Micheál Martin focused on the security situation facing Europe in his comments, as he talked about “a pattern” of Russian behaviour in eastern Europe and warned about a “degree of naivety back in Ireland in respect of that.”
He said:
“We had a very serious discussion in terms of the threat that Russia is now posing to the European Union and to European Union member states, and particularly in terms of the violation of the airspace of quite a number of European member states. …
A clear pattern is emerging, if you take everything that has happened over the last number of weeks and months, in terms of drone incursions, in terms of maritime activity around cables, and that in terms of the undermining of political and politics in various member states …
And it seems to me that there’s a degree of naivety back in Ireland in respect of that. Certainly the member states and the eastern European side, the Baltic States in particular, feel this threat and feel it’s existential.”
He later added:
“Putin is showing no signs that he wants to end that war, despite all the entreaties and despite the Alaska meeting and so on. So the situation is very serious for Europe and the Russian threat is very serious.”
Separately, Martin also spoke about the Gaza flotilla intercepted by Israel, stressing that he was receiving up-to-date briefings on the situation, and that Ireland would offer consular help to all affected.
He stressed:
“It’s a humanitarian mission, no threat to anybody other than to highlight and also to bring humanitarian aid into the people of Gaza, and it underlines the absolute imperative of getting humanitarian aid into Gaza as quickly as possible under the auspices of the United Nations and the Red Crescent.”
Migration and Ukraine to dominate talks today, UK’s Starmer says
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said in his doorstep comments that illegal migration and Ukraine will dominate today’s talks.
“We’re certainly discussing illegal migration and looking at what further options we can take together. Obviously, I’ve always argued that working with other countries is always a stronger response.
So we’re looking at a number of options there. There’s a big appetite for it, a number of countries wanting to work with us and what more we can do. So we’ll be looking at that.
There is also, then, obviously, the question of Ukraine, and how we put in more support for Ukraine, put pressure on Putin. So it’d really be migration and Ukraine, the two dominant issues in the discussions today.”
Important to come together for talks with other European countries, Nato’s Rutte says
Given the security situation in Europe, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte is also joining the leaders for talks today.
On his arrival, he says it’s “important to come together” to discuss “everything going on now when it comes to our collective security, how to keep our sky safe, how to make sure that Ukraine stays in the fight as strong as possible now, but also to be in the best possible position when, hopefully one day, peace talks will start.”
He adds that the EPC format allows leaders to “have this format to come together, to chart a course, but also to [hold] dialogue in bigger and smaller format.”
European Political Community format brings leaders together for talks but some question its value – snap analysis
Jennifer Rankin
After the EU summit in Copenhagen… comes another European summit in the Danish capital. More than 45 leaders from across the continent are expected to meet as the European Political Community to discuss security, migration and the economy.
The EPC was proposed by French president Emmanuel Macron, after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It brings together almost every European country, barring Russia and Belarus, with the aim of promoting cooperation between EU and non-EU countries, especially on security and defence. Since its first gathering in October 2022, it has been hard to pin down results.
The one-day summits, with invites extended to 45+ leaders from Iceland to Azerbaijan, Finland to Portugal, are not intended to take decisions. Some diplomats have questioned the value of the frequency of the twice-yearly gatherings; others say the usefulness lies in the informal bilaterals and ad-hoc meetings on the side.
The first meeting was in Prague in October 2022, where EU leaders thought they had made progress in resolving the long-running conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. But it fell apart the following year when Azerbaijan’s leader Ilham Aliyev skipped a follow-up EPC in Granada, missing further talks with his Armenian counterpart, Nikol Pashinyan.
The first EPC summit in the Czech capital was notable because Liz Truss, the UK’s shortest-lived prime minister, decided that Macron was “a friend” after all.
The next EPC in Moldova in 2023 was seen as highly symbolic, soon after the former Soviet republic of 2.4m made a decisive bid to integrate with the west, while facing intense Russian pressure.
A gathering in the UK in 2024 was a moment for the then newly minted prime minister Keir Starmer to proclaim that Britain wanted to reset ties with Europe, after the muddle and turmoil of the Brexit years. Some EU insiders questioned the value of the meeting, which came soon after a Nato summit brought together most of the same cast.
Luuk Van Middelaar, a former adviser to a European Council president, thinks the EPC is proving its value. He makes the case for the organisation in a paper co-authored with Antoine Michon, a diplomat and visiting scholar at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics.
They write:
“As demonstrated by the sustained high attendance at each summit, the EPC has become an essential piece of the political and diplomatic conversation in a war-facing continent, a fitting and timely response to the demise of Europe’s post-cold war order.
In and through the European Political Community, Europe has unearthed an older incarnation of itself, taking on the ancient diplomatic mantle of a polity of sovereign states.”
Morning opening: Let’s talk Europe
Jakub Krupa
After last night’s talks at the informal summit of the European Council, it’s now time for a bit more of political speed dating, with more European leaders as Copenhagen hosts the seventh summit of the European Political Community.
The format is not without its controversy, as some question its usefulness, but it offers a rare chance to discuss some of the most burning issues facing Europe with a broader group of European countries outside the EU – virtually everyone, except Russia and Belarus.
The leaders are gathering now, and will formally start their meetings in around an hour.
I will monitor their comments and bring you all the latest here.
It’s Thursday, 2 October 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
