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Kaja Kallas warns Russia is increasing attacks to weaken Europe's support for Ukraine
September 26, 2026
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warns that Russia is increasing hybrid attacks on Europe, as US officials voice concern that the war could spread.
Kaja Kallas, born in Tallinn in 1977 under Soviet rule, became Estonia's first female prime minister in 2021 and is now the European Union's foreign policy chief.
USA Today reports that European leaders publicly blamed Russia after a drone carrying explosives turned up near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany in August, and that US and European officials now worry Moscow is testing NATO with sabotage and hybrid attacks. Kaja Kallas said, “We see them really increasing their attacks.” USA Today also carries Secretary of State Marco Rubio's concern, voiced at a September 23 news conference, that Russia's war could reach Ukraine's European neighbors, and it quotes US envoy Mike Waltz at the Security Council. “We have violations of neighboring airspace, including NATO airspace, that create risks that no one in this room takes lightly,” said Waltz. Its account leans on former US officials who argue that fear of escalation has undermined NATO's deterrent. “No matter what the provocation, we have been more worried that this will lead to a war than we are in sending Putin the message that we have serious red lines that we keep,” said Daalder.
Fox News reports that Kallas, speaking on the sidelines of the General Assembly, argues that Moscow's goal is less to probe NATO's defenses than to erode backing for Ukraine among its allies. Its account frames the warning through her life: she was born in Tallinn in 1977 under Soviet rule, and her mother was deported to Siberia as an infant in 1949. Fox News also quotes Margus Tsahkna, who plays down talk of a full invasion. “We have more and more this kind of panic in Europe that Russia will invade and will be full-scale aggressive against NATO and Europe and the Baltic states, Poland, but we don’t see it,” Tsahkna said. The two outlets agree that Russia is stepping up attacks and that Europe has to answer with defense spending; the difference between them is emphasis and house style, with USA Today centered on the US policy debate and Fox News on Kallas herself.
Reuters reports criticism of the EU for dropping sanctions on Russian billionaires, The Economist ties the removal of sanctions on one oligarch to pressure from France, and Bloomberg describes Russian tycoons studying how billionaires got out from under EU sanctions. The quotes from Kallas, Rubio and Waltz are directly attributed. NATO nations still decline to say what would count as a triggering event, and the details of the sanctions decision were still developing at the time of this draft.
Still developing
The threshold at which NATO allies would treat Russia's hybrid attacks as an attack against them all was still forming as of the time of this draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- Reuters — EU faces backlash after lifting sanctions on Russian billionaires | Reuters
- USA Today — US, Europe worry Russia is testing NATO with hybrid attacks and sabotage
- Fox News — She grew up under Soviet rule. Now EU's top diplomat warns Europe against giving Russia what it wants
- The Economist — France forces the EU to lift sanctions on a Russian oligarch
Toggle read the full reports of 3 of the 5 outlets counted on this event. The other 2 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.