EU has options to protect ICC from US punitive measures: Kallas

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday that the bloc has options to ensure the International Criminal Court can continue its vital work despite US punitive measures. Speaking to reporters in Brussels following a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Kallas noted that a six-month implementation window offers time for dialogue with Washington. "The six-month period before the US measures take effect offers a window of dialogue," she said. "The EU has options to ensure that the court can continue its vital work," she added, stating that member states remained serious about protecting the tribunal.

Russia isolation and transatlantic sanctions

Kallas addressed Moscow's participation in international sports and cultural events, warning that athletic competitions must not serve political ends. "Sports and culture must not become vehicles for whitewashing Russian aggression," she said, noting that her services would propose additional measures to sustain Russia's isolation in global athletics. On cooperation with Washington over sanctions against Moscow, Kallas stated that joint transatlantic action would carry significantly greater weight. "It would be much stronger if we would act together with the US," she said, adding that coordinated pressure with London and other partners consistently produces much bigger effects. Kallas said the EU hoped a US bill introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham would be put into action to finally pressure Russia to stop the war.

Red Sea security after Houthi attacks

The EU's top diplomat condemned recent Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia's main airport and emphasized the strategic importance of keeping maritime routes open to all nations. "The Houthi attacks on Riyadh airport were appalling acts of terror. There can be no justification for indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure," she said. "Keeping the Red Sea open is in Europe's strategic interest," Kallas added, noting that more than 60 countries had pledged to oppose tolls on international shipping routes. "International waters, the arteries of our economy must remain open to everyone, not whoever can pay," she said.

Record expansion of sanctions listings

The meeting produced nearly 1,600 new sanctions listings targeting Russia's military-industrial complex, which Kallas described as the largest single expansion of the bloc's sanctions list since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. More than half of the listings target the production chain for ballistic missiles, she said. The new designations aim to degrade Moscow's capacity to sustain its offensive operations.