Europe condemn Russia's deadly attack on Ukraine

Brussels, Apr. 15: European officials condemned Monday Russia's deadly missile attack on Ukraine's Sumy that killed and wounded scores, accusing Moscow of committing war crimes and demonstrating disregard for Washington-led efforts to end the war.

Ukrainian officials said two ballistic missiles on Sunday morning hit the heart of Sumy, a city about 30 kilometers away from Ukraine's border with Russia, as people gathered to celebrate Palm Sunday, killing at least 34 and wounding 117. It is the second large-scale attack to claim civilian lives in just over a week.

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, whose country holds the European Union's rotating presidency, said that the recent attacks are "Russia's mocking answer" to Kyiv's agreement to a ceasefire proposed by the U.S. administration over a month ago.

"I hope that President Trump, the U.S. administration, see that the leader of Russia is mocking their goodwill, and I hope the right decisions are taken," Sikorski told reporters Monday in Luxembourg, where EU foreign ministers met.

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen noted that the attack on Sumy came shortly after Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, was in Saint Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

It demonstrates that "Russia shows full disregard for the peace process, but also that Russia has zero regard for human life."

Lithuania's foreign minister Kestutis Budrys said the Russian strike used cluster munitions to target civilians in what he called "a war crime by definition."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the attack shows that Putin has no intention of agreeing to a ceasefire. "He must therefore be forced to do so, and that's why I'm calling on the European Union to take the toughest sanctions against Russia to suffocate its economy and prevent it from fueling its war effort."

The EU has imposed 16 rounds of sanctions on Russia and is working on a 17th package, but the measures are getting harder to agree on as they also impact European economies.

Germany's chancellor-designate, Friedrich Merz, described the Sumy attack late Sunday as "a serious war crime."

Merz said that, three days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was in Moscow, Russia attacked a children's hospital in Kyiv. "Evidently, he (Putin) interprets our readiness to speak to him not as a serious offer to make peace possible but as weakness," he said in an appearance on ARD television.

Merz made clear that he stands by his past calls to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, something that outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused to do. (AP)