Belgium and France Summon Russian Ambassadors after Moscow Urges Foreigners to Leave Kyiv
The Belgian and French foreign ministries both summoned the Russian ambassadors in Brussels and Paris on the morning of Wednesday 27 May 2026, in a coordinated diplomatic response to Moscow’s overnight statement urging foreign citizens to “leave Kyiv”. The dual summons, confirmed by Al Jazeera and several wire services, marks one of the sharpest direct exchanges between Russia and EU capitals since the start of the year.
The Russian statement
The Russian foreign ministry’s statement, issued late on 26 May, called on “foreign citizens not engaged in essential humanitarian work to leave Kyiv as a matter of personal security”. EU diplomats consulted by Reuters interpreted the wording as a thinly veiled signal that Moscow may be planning escalation against the Ukrainian capital — potentially a renewed missile and drone campaign — and was effectively warning embassies in advance. The Russian embassy in Kyiv was reduced to a skeleton staff in 2022 and has not been operational since.
Coordinated EU response
The coordination of the Belgian and French summons — announced within roughly two hours of each other on Wednesday morning — was not a coincidence. The two countries co-chair the EU’s working group on hybrid threats under the current Cypriot presidency, and the EEA Council meeting in Brussels on Wednesday provided the institutional setting for the coordinated reaction. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot and his French counterpart issued near-identical statements demanding clarification and condemning the framing of the Russian warning.
Brussels condemns the “implicit threat”
The European External Action Service (EEAS) issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon describing the Russian announcement as “an implicit threat against a sovereign capital and against the diplomatic community present in Ukraine”. High Representative Kaja Kallas, speaking after the EEA Council, said the EU “will not be intimidated” and reaffirmed the union’s commitment to continued military and financial support for Kyiv, including the next tranche of the European Peace Facility scheduled for mid-June disbursement.
Ukrainian reaction
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the Russian statement “psychological terrorism” in a Wednesday afternoon press briefing in Kyiv. Sybiha noted that Ukrainian air defences had intercepted a record number of Shahed drones in the previous 72 hours, including 95% of the projectiles launched on the night of 25-26 May. Kyiv authorities have not raised the civil protection alert level despite the Russian statement, but emergency services were placed on heightened readiness.
NATO consultations
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte convened informal consultations with allied capitals on Wednesday afternoon. According to alliance officials, the discussions focused on intelligence-sharing about possible Russian preparations rather than any new direct deployment. The North Atlantic Council is not expected to meet formally on the matter unless concrete Russian escalation materialises, but the consultations underscore that the Russian warning has reverberated well beyond EU member states.
Context: the wider hybrid campaign
The Brussels and Paris summons fit into a longer pattern of European pushback against what officials describe as a sustained Russian hybrid campaign. Recent months have seen arrest of suspected Russian intelligence assets in Poland, Germany and the Baltic states; multiple sabotage attempts on undersea cables in the Baltic Sea; and a steady stream of disinformation campaigns targeting EU elections. The 27 May summons, while triggered by a specific statement, signals a tougher willingness by EU capitals to confront Moscow in real time rather than through delayed sanctions packages.
Implications for the 16 June package
The diplomatic flare-up arrives at a politically delicate moment for Brussels. The Commission’s 16 June package on Ukraine and Moldova accession — already expected to be politically contested — now lands against the backdrop of fresh Russian threats against Kyiv. EU diplomats indicate that the 27 May incident is likely to strengthen the political case for accelerating Ukraine’s accession track and for an additional tranche of military aid, though Hungarian opposition remains a structural obstacle.
What comes next
The Belgian and French foreign ministries are expected to publish on Thursday 28 May a joint statement summarising the substance of their conversations with the Russian ambassadors. The Russian foreign ministry has so far not commented publicly on the dual summons. Brussels-based analysts caution that the absence of public Russian engagement may itself be a signal, with Moscow preferring to let the original “leave Kyiv” statement stand without clarification — a tactic consistent with previous patterns of strategic ambiguity.
