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Heads of state from Europe convened in Kyiv on Tuesday to commemorate four years since Russia’s extensive incursion. Nevertheless, the Trump administration did not dispatch any high-level representatives, illustrating a more detached US posture as its initiatives to cease hostilities have stumbled.
The presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, arrived by rail early on Tuesday, accompanied by eight EU prime ministers and presidents, along with numerous other senior dignitaries, to observe the anniversary and honor the tens of thousands of lives lost in the conflict.
In a recorded message, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy contemplated the anniversary with a blend of sorrow and resolve.
“We have defended our autonomy; we have not forfeited our national identity,” he declared from within the wartime command center established in February 2022 when Russian forces advanced into Ukraine. “Ukraine exists not merely on the map . . . Our capital endures.
“Putin has not accomplished his objectives,” he added. “He has not subjugated Ukrainians. He has not triumphed in this confrontation.”
Zelenskyy and his spouse Olena Zelenska, alongside other principal Ukrainian officials, were scheduled to meet with European leaders to further coordinate endeavors aimed at bringing Russia’s invasion to a close.
The Ukrainian president’s office stated that the visiting dignitaries would also tour an energy installation devastated by recent Russian missile and drone attacks, which have brought Kyiv to the precipice of disaster during the most severe winter in over a decade.
EU leaders arrived in Kyiv largely empty-handed after Hungary blocked a €90bn loan as well as fresh punitive measures against Russia, amidst a deepening dispute with Ukraine, which it accused of impeding Russian pipeline oil deliveries.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán released a video statement on Tuesday asserting: “Do not rely on us — we will not provide funds, we will not supply soldiers, we will not participate in the war.” Orbán, who faces contested elections in April, has made Ukraine the pivotal theme of his electoral campaign.
Orbán “previously refused to permit armaments to traverse his nation,” Zelenskyy informed the FT in an interview on Monday. “You were collaborating with Putin; we overlooked that. Now you are obstructing €90bn . . . money we require for weaponry, for survival. We need these funds to persevere, and you impede it. How are we expected to regard you?”
Several rounds of peace discussions, including three series of trilateral negotiations involving American, Ukrainian, and Russian representatives, have thus far failed to yield any significant breakthrough. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has maintained his uncompromising stance, demanding more territory than his troops have managed to seize by force, while Zelenskyy has insisted that no land can simply be relinquished.
Zelenskyy conveyed to the FT his frustration that the US was pursuing a tactic of pressuring “both sides” and positioning itself “in the middle” in an attempt to mediate a resolution.
“I place my confidence in President Trump — in him and in his nation — that they will exert influence on Russia and halt Putin,” he further added. “Ukraine requires a cessation of hostilities — yesterday, today, tomorrow.
“We do not need a temporary halt,” he stated. “We require the cessation of the war.”
The Ukrainian president has indicated that Washington is pushing for the conflict to conclude by summer so that the White House and Republicans can concentrate on midterm elections. The US embassy in Kyiv declined to comment regarding the absence of any high-ranking Trump administration officials on Tuesday.
Russia’s incursion has now extended beyond the duration of the Soviet Union’s involvement in the Second World War against Nazi Germany — and it has incurred an immense human toll. A report last month from the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that total casualties on both sides could reach 2 million by spring, with Russia enduring the highest troop losses of any major power in a conflict since the Second World War.
Zelenskyy told the FT that Russia’s army lost an average of 167 soldiers in 2025 “for every kilometer of occupied territory”.
Speaking from Brussels, Mark Rutte, Nato’s secretary-general, affirmed that “it is imperative that Ukraine continues to receive the military, financial, and humanitarian assistance it needs to enable Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aerial terror and to maintain the front lines”.
“A pledge of aid does not terminate a war,” he declared, urging Kyiv’s western allies to commit more backing for the conflict-ridden nation.
“Ukraine requires ordnance today and every day until the bloodshed ceases.”
As part of the ongoing drive to compel the Russian leader to end his war, the British government on Tuesday unveiled its most substantial package of sanctions against Russia since the commencement of the conflict. It focused on Russian energy revenues, including oil exports and key suppliers of military equipment fueling war efforts.
Russian oil earnings are currently at their lowest point since 2020, after the UK and its international partners intensified sanctions pressure on Moscow.
Further reporting by Laura Dubois in Brussels and Marton Dunai in Budapest