Euroquestions #99 | The EU support to Ukraine: from the sanction strategy to a strategic alliance?

Since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the European Union has designed and implemented a historic sanctions strategy to undermine Russia’s war effort. Since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, the European Union has continuously strengthened its support for Ukraine, mobilising more than €135 billion in financial, humanitarian, and military aid to date. Have these strategies proved effective in asserting the EU’s strategic goals?

In March 2025, an international summit was held in Paris, bringing together around 30 allied countries to discuss the future deployment of a European ‘reassurance force’ in Ukraine, intended to deter any further Russian aggression in the context of a possible peace agreement. But is support from EU member states still unanimous after more than three years of war (e.g., Hungary, Slovakia)? Will the coalition of volunteers produce anything concrete?

We are pleased to welcome Cyrille Bret, associate researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute, to discuss these issues.