Russia poses a direct threat to the European Union through acts of sabotage and cyberattacks, but its massive military spending suggests that President Vladimir Putin also plans to use his armed forces elsewhere in the future, the EU’s top diplomat warned on Wednesday.

“Russia is already a direct threat to the European Union,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. She listed a series of Russian airspace violations, provocative military exercises, and attacks on energy grids, pipelines and undersea cables.

Kallas noted that Russia is already spending more on defense than the EU's 27 nations combined, and this year will invest more “on defense than its own health care, education and social policy combined.”

“This is a long-term plan for a long-term aggression. You don’t spend that much on (the) military, if you do not plan to use it,” Kallas told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France.

“Europe is under attack and our continent sits in a world becoming more dangerous,” she added.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said that Russia is producing as much weapons and ammunition in three months as the 32 allies together make in a year. He believes that Russia could be in a position to launch an attack on a NATO ally by the end of the decade.

The acts of sabotage and cyberattacks are mostly aimed at undermining European support for Ukraine, military officers and experts have said.

But concern is mounting in Europe that Russia could try to test NATO’s Article 5 security guarantee — the pledge that an attack on any one of the allies would be met with a collective response from all 32.

In 2021, NATO allies acknowledged that significant and cumulative cyberattacks might, in certain circumstances, also be considered an armed attack that could lead them to invoke Article 5, but so far no action has been taken.

With the Trump administration now turning its sights on security challenges in the Middle East and China, Europe has been left to fend for itself, and for Ukraine, and finds itself in a more precarious position.

Last week, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service (BND), Bruno Kahl, warned against underestimating Russian intentions toward the West and NATO.

“We are very certain, and we have intelligence evidence for this, that Ukraine is just a step on the path to the West,” Kahl told the Table Today podcast on June 9, according to German news agency dpa.

Russia’s goal is to expand its sphere of influence westward, the BND chief said.

“They want to catapult NATO back to the state it was in at the end of the 1990s. They want to kick America out of Europe, and they’ll use any means to achieve that,” Kahl said.

He warned that “this must be nipped in the bud,” and that deterrence is the “most bloodless way” to prevent war. NATO countries are set to agree a new defense investment pledge at a summit in the Netherlands next week, pouring billions of dollars more into security-related spending.

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EU summons Russia envoy over attack of a diplomat in Vladivostok

The European Union has summoned Russia’s envoy to Brussels for an explanation after one of the bloc’s officials was attacked in the eastern city of Vladivostok last month, an EU spokesperson said Wednesday.

The diplomat was attacked on May 26. Their name, nationality and medical condition weren't provided. German news outlet Der Spiegel reported that the official was a Romanian woman who had traveled to the city on official business.

Der Spiegel said that the woman was attacked after leaving her hotel for an early morning walk. It said a car pulled up alongside her, and that two men got out. She was threatened, and then beaten up. The men were believed to work for Russian security authorities, the news magazine said, citing EU diplomatic sources.

“We condemn any violence against EU diplomats. They must be able to carry out their duties free from fear and intimidation,” EU spokesperson Anitta Hipper said. “The safety of our staff is paramount, and we will continue to review the protection of our diplomatic staff.”

Russia’s representative in Brussels was summoned “for clarifications.” No further details were provided.

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Top EU envoy says Middle East conflict will widen if US gets involved

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has warned against US involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

"When it comes to the United States getting involved, then it will definitely drag the region into a broader conflict, and this is in nobody's interest," she told journalists in Brussels.

The trajectory of the confrontation between arch-rivals Israel and Iran may hinge on the next steps taken by US President Donald Trump. Options range from pursuing a negotiated solution to direct military intervention, including providing "bunker-buster" bombs for attacks against underground nuclear sties.

In a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Kallas said he had agreed with her that it was not in Washington's interest to be drawn into the fighting.

The EU's top diplomat held an emergency videoconference with the bloc's foreign ministers on Tuesday.

"It is clear that everybody agrees that Iran can't have a nuclear bomb, and that is our end goal," she said of the call, adding that a diplomatic outcome was generally considered the best long-term solution.

Another key issue discussed was the evacuation of EU citizens.

"We have member states that have planes evacuating. We have member states who don't have planes, and we coordinate the efforts so that our citizens are safe," Kallas said.

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European ministers to hold nuclear talks with Iran on Friday in Geneva, source says

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain plan to hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart on Friday in Geneva, a German diplomatic source told Reuters.

The ministers will first meet with the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, at Germany's permanent mission in Geneva before holding a joint meeting with the Iranian foreign minister, the source said.

The European initiative comes amid fears of a spiralling conflict in the Middle East after Israel launched wide-ranging military strikes on its arch-enemy Iran last week and Iran sent waves of missiles at Israeli targets in response.

President Donald Trump has declined to say whether the United States will join its ally Israel's military campaign, fuelling concerns that the crisis could intensify.

The aim of the talks between Iran and the Europeans, which the German source said are taking place in coordination with the United States, is to persuade the Iranian side to firmly guarantee that it will use its nuclear programme solely for civilian purposes.

According to the source, the talks are to be followed by a structured dialogue at the expert level.

Israel has said its goal is to eliminate Tehran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran denies that its nuclear programme is for military purposes.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has spoken out in support of Israel's attack and angered Tehran this week by saying the Iranians should de-escalate or face the threat of even greater destruction.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday appealed to Iran's leaders to work towards a solution that would involve assurances over its nuclear programme, telling them: "It's never too late to come to the negotiating table".

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EU chief says pressure off for lower Russia oil price cap

EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday said surging energy prices have reduced the urgency to slash the price cap on Russia's global oil exports.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, had suggested cutting the current oil price cap from $60 to $45 as Moscow drags its feet on a ceasefire in Ukraine.

The measure would have been a major component of a fresh wave of sanctions against Russia planned by the EU, with hopes that the United States would also commit.

The EU had said it would make its case at the G7 summit being held at a wooded resort in Alberta, Canada, but the gathering was overshadowed by the conflict between Israel and Iran that sent US President Donald Trump home early to handle the crisis.

The current $60 cap "had little effect, but in the last days, we have seen that the oil price has risen [and] the cap in place does serve its function," von der Leyen told reporters on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.

"So for the moment, there's little pressure on lowering the oil price cap," she added.

The existing cap was a G7 initiative aimed at limiting the amount of money Russia makes by exporting oil to countries across the world.

It was designed to limit the price Moscow can get for oil by banning shipping firms and insurance companies from dealing with Russia to export above that amount.

Under the leadership of the previous Biden administration, it was set at $60 by the G7 in late 2022, months after the invasion of Ukraine.

To have the most impact, the EU and other G7 partners need to get the United States to follow suit and agree to the price cut.

But Trump so far has frustrated Western allies by refusing to impose new sanctions on Russia despite President Vladimir Putin's failure to agree to a Ukraine ceasefire.

Von der Leyen said the G7 leaders, with Trump still present, on Monday discussed coordinating on sanctions against Russia "to put more pressure" on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The EU's latest proposal for an 18th round of sanctions since Russia's invasion also includes measures to stop the defunct Baltic Sea gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 from being brought back online.

"The fact that we have just put another hardened, biting package of sanctions on Russia is proof" of the EU's continued support for Ukraine, von der Leyen said.