EU bishops rally behind Ukraine after explosive Trump meeting

Elise Ann Allen/ Crux• March 4, 2025

The bishops of the European Union have rallied in support of the Ukrainian people and have urged European institutions to do the same.

Their comments, which appear to give a somewhat mixed message regarding the need for negotiations to achieve peace while at the same time indicating their approval of plans by EU political leaders to massively increase military spending, come after the US government announced it plans to halt military support to Ukraine following an explosive meeting at the Oval Office between the respective leaders of the US and Ukraine. 

In a March 4 statement, the presidency of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) lamented the “instability and uncertainty” of the current geopolitical landscape. Amid this context, they expressed their “closeness and heartfelt solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who have been suffering from Russia’s unjustifiable full-scale invasion for more than three years”. 

They also expressed their solidarity with all those who have died, been maimed or wounded, or who have had to flee their homes, while they voiced gratitude to EU leaders for providing “unprecedented” humanitarian, political, financial and military aid to Ukraine.

“Ukraine’s struggle for peace and the defence of its territorial integrity is not only a fight for its own future. Its outcome will also be decisive for the fate of the entire European continent and of a free and democratic world,” the bishops said.

Amid what they said are “deepening geopolitical complexities and the unpredictability of actions taken by some members of the international community”, they urged EU leaders and member states “to remain united in their commitment to supporting Ukraine and its people”.

The reference to unpredictable actions appears to be an indirect reference to the fractious meeting that happened in the White House on 28 February between US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

While discussing a mineral deal in front of television cameras, Zelenskyy raised the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine and asked for assurances that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be allowed to renege on any deal that was signed in a potential ceasefire.

In the subsequent heated discussion, Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of being disrespectful and ungrateful for US military support of Ukraine, repeatedly interrupting Zelensky as he tried to reply, before he later left the White House without the signing of the minerals deal.

As tensions continue to escalate in the fallout from the meeting, Trump announced on 3 March that the US would be freezing all military aid to Ukraine, while EU leaders have proposed plans to significantly ramp theirs up.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 4 March proposed a new common strategy to increase military spending throughout the EU, suggesting that member states pool up to €150 billion ($157.7 billion) in loans as part of a five-stage plan to increase defence spending.

Speaking to reporters, she presented a “Rearm Europe” plan to ultimately unlock up to €800 billion ($841.4 billion) of additional defence spending over the next several years.

“Europe is ready to massively boost its defence spending, both to respond to the short-term urgency to act and to support Ukraine, but also to address the long-term need to take on more responsibility for our own European security,” she said.

In their statement, COMECE’s leadership called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022  a “blatant violation of international law”.

“The use of force to alter national borders and the atrocious acts committed against the civilian population are not only unjustifiable, but demand a consequent pursuit of justice and accountability,” the bishops said.

At the same time, they reiterated the message from bishops in the US that negotiation is the only path to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, adding that any “credible and sincere dialogue” ought to be supported by “continued strong transatlantic and global solidarity and it must involve the victim of the aggression: Ukraine”. 

“We firmly reject any attempts to distort the reality of this aggression,” they said, which also appeared an indirect reference to statements from Trump indicating that Zelenskyy has acted in bad faith during the war.

Echoing Zelenskyy’s security concerns, COMECE said a sustainable and peaceful future in Ukraine and in Europe “must fully respect international law and be underpinned by effective security guarantees to prevent the conflict from re-erupting”. 

“The peace agreement must establish the necessary conditions to ensure that Ukrainian families can reunite again and live a life in dignity, security and freedom in their sovereign and independent homeland,” the bishops said.

To achieve the restoration of Ukraine’s social fabric and the long-term path of reconciliation, the bishops said it is equally necessary to uphold and protect “the rights of all communities, including the Russian-speaking minority”. 

The international community, they said, “should continue to assist Ukraine in the reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure”, while adding that “Russia, the aggressor, must adequately participate in this effort” also. 

In terms of Ukraine’s quest to enter the European Union, COMECE urged EU leaders to advance with the ongoing enlargement process “in a timely and fair manner alongside other candidate countries”. 

“As the contours of a new global security architecture are currently being redrawn, it is our profound hope that the European Union will remain faithful to its vocation to be a promise of peace and an anchor of stability to its neighbourhood and to the world,” the bishops said.

With the liturgical season of Lent about to start, the bishops also urged Christians to entrust Ukraine and Europe to Jesus through the intercession of Mary under her title “Queen of peace”.

Photo: US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 28 February 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.)