“Democracies need hard defence. Treaties alone never guarantee peace. Georgia learned this in 2008,” Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2025.

According to Kaja Kallas, “strength deters aggressors.”

“Democracies need hard defence. Treaties alone never guarantee peace. Georgia learned this in 2008. Ukraine learned this in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea, and now through three years of full-scale invasion by Russia. We have the answer to the question of how to stop Russia’s historical cycle of aggression against democracies in our hands – strength is the answer.

Strength deters aggressors, weakness invites them in. The strongest security guarantee is a strong Ukraine. Kyiv cannot accept another Budapest memorandum -words alone are never enough as a security guarantee. That is why the European Union and its member states are the biggest supporters of Ukraine’s military and why robust security guarantees must be part of any peace agreement for Ukraine,” Kallas concluded.

The EU High Representative believes that the increase in pressure on Russia and strengthening Ukraine on the battlefield are needed to end the war.

Kaja Kallas also stressed that Russia has asked for sanctions relief, thus proving that the sanctions are working. “They wouldn’t be asking it otherwise,” the EU High Representative concluded.