Leaders of the EU are meeting in an informal Summit in Versailles in the shadow of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the surge in energy costs in Europe. Earlier, the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met in Antalya, Turkey, during which no progress was made on the ceasefire agreement. Instead, the situation from Kyiv is that the Russian forces have begun their advance towards the centre of the Ukrainian capital.

In a post with a commemorative photo of the leaders in Versailles, Ursula von der Leyen tweeted “This is a defining moment for the European Union. This is not only an attack on Ukraine. This is an attack on people’s freedom to choose their own destiny. The very principle our Union is based on. We must show the power of our democracies.”

This is a defining moment for the European Union.

This is not only an attack on Ukraine.

This is an attack on people’s freedom to choose their own destiny.

The very principle our Union is based on.

We must show the power of our democracies. pic.twitter.com/zGpAWTVXF5

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) March 10, 2022

Arriving at the Summit, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his disgust for the attack of the Russian forces on a hospital in Mariupol and demanded an immediate ceasefire. He said Europe had “violently matured” during the 15 days of the war in Ukraine, which is called upon to match its economic power with its geopolitical displacement.

The Prime Minister spoke about the pressure that the European Union should exert on Russia, saying that it wants to apply a ceiling on gas prices, called for a common European response to the surge in energy costs, referring to his 6-point proposal for the wholesale price of natural gas. At the same time, he stated that the union is debating how to find ways to protect citizens, both businesses and farmers, from rising energy prices, and has called for defence spending to be excluded from deficits.