UKRAINE: Third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion

On 24 February, EU leaders gathered in Kyiv to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The presidents of the European Commission (EC) and the European Council (EUCO) joined heads of state and government from various EU member states and other countries to show their support for Ukraine at a time when there are serious concerns about future backing from the US since the start of the second Trump presidency. The president of the European Parliament (EP) and representatives of numerous other countries also joined the ‘Support Ukraine’ meeting virtually.

Participants in the meeting made the following statements:

At the same time as European leaders were participating in the ‘Support Ukraine’ meeting in Kyiv, the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) was discussing the latest situation in Ukraine with Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybihan in Brussels. EU foreign ministers also adopted the 16^th package of sanctions on Russia and discussed a new initiative by the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy on enhanced EU military support to Ukraine in 2025.

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas made her own remarks at a press conference after the FAC meeting.

The presidents of the EC, the EUCO and the EP also issued a joint statement.

In addition to the various activities that were taking place in Europe, the United Nations (UN) also commemorated the anniversary. The UN General Assembly passed two resolutions, proposed by Ukraine and the US respectively, on resolving the conflict in Ukraine. The US draft did not include references to Russian aggression and was passed after members adopted EU-led amendments which introduced language from the Ukrainian draft. The US voted against the amendments and abstained on its own resolution. It also voted against the Ukrainian resolution. The original US draft was later adopted by the UN Security Council.

The UN Secretary General also issued a statement.

Away from the high-level discussions and statements about the war and the future of European and other countries’ support for Ukraine, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi issued a statement about all of the people who have been displaced or otherwise affected by the war.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), there are 6.91 million refugees from Ukraine recorded globally of whom 6.35 million are in Europe. According to the European Statistical Office (Eurostat), 4.26 million non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine were under temporary protection in the EU in December 2024. The EU member states which are hosting the most beneficiaries of temporary protection (BTPs) are Germany (1.16 million; 27.3% of the EU total), Poland (992,000; 23.3%) and Czechia (389,000; 9.1%).

ECRE has published numerous analyses and sets of recommendations since the activation of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) on 4 March 2022.

Recent TPD-related publications cover:

In June 2024, ECRE also published an opinion piece on the future of temporary protection in Europe shortly before the decision to extend it until 4 March 2026 was taken.

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