EU leaders seek a big boost in Ukraine military support but make little progress on Russia sanctions

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders on Thursday called for even greater efforts to help meet Ukraine's pressing military needs, and expressed support for the country's quest to join their ranks, but they made little headway with new sanctions against Russia.

At a summit in Brussels, the leaders said it was important to deliver more “air defense and anti-drone systems, and large-calibre ammunition, to help Ukraine, as it exercises its inherent right to self-defence, to protect its citizens and territory against Russia’s intensified daily attacks.”

They also underlined the need to help support Ukraine's defense industry, which can make weapons and ammunition more quickly and cheaply than its European counterparts. Ukrainian President Vololdymyr Zelenskyy took part in the meeting via videolink.

Russian forces have made slow gains at some points on the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, but it has been costly in terms of troop casualties and damaged equipment. The outnumbered Ukrainian army has relied heavily on drones to keep the Russians back.

Months of U.S.-led international efforts to stop the more than three years of war have failed. As hostilities have ground on, the two sides have continued to swap prisoners of war.

The leaders said the bloc "remains steadfast in its support for Ukraine's path towards EU membership." That message comes a day after NATO leaders refrained from putting a reference to Ukraine's hopes of joining the military organization in their summit statement, due in large part to U.S. resistance.

The EU is working on yet another raft of sanctions against Russia, but the leaders made little headway. A key aim is to make further progress in blocking Russia's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers and their operators from earning more revenue for Moscow's war effort.

The EU has slapped several rounds of sanctions on Russia since President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine in February 24, 2022. More than 2,400 officials and entities – usually government agencies, banks and organizations – have been hit.

The statement on Ukraine was agreed by 26 of the 27 member countries. Hungary objected, as it has often done. At a NATO summit on Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that "NATO has no business in Ukraine. Ukraine is not member of NATO, neither Russia. My job is to keep it as it is."

In other developments, the EU leaders deplored "the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, the unacceptable number of civilian casualties and the levels of starvation." They called "on Israel to fully lift its blockade."

They also said that their European Council "takes note" of a report saying that there are signs that Israel's actions in Gaza are violating human rights obligations in an agreement governing EU-Israel ties. The report was debated by EU foreign ministers on Monday, but the bloc is divided over what to do about it.

The ministers will discuss the issue again at their next meeting on July 15. Suspending ties, including on trade, would require a unanimous decision, which is likely impossible to obtain from staunch backers of Israel like Austria, Germany and Hungary.

The head of the main Greens party group in the European Parliament, Bas Eickhout said that “the EU is losing all credibility in light of the devastating conflicts raging in the Middle East,” and insisted that the Association Agreement must be suspended.

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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook and Sylvie Corbet in Brussels contributed to this report.