European Council President: ‘No lasting peace, without Ukraine and without the EU’
Only Ukraine can define when there are conditions for a negotiation, European Council President António Costa told the Munich Security Conference on February 15.
Assuming concessions before any negotiation is a huge mistake, Costa said.
Earlier this week, US President Trump announced that he had spoken with Russian ruler Putin about peace talks, while Trump’s administration has ruled out Ukraine returning to its 2014 borders and ruled out the country joining Nato.
Costa told the conference: “Therefore, we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine: in the negotiations, providing security guarantees, in reconstruction and as a future member of the European Union. This is the EU’s position and is also Ukraine’s position”.
“What does a comprehensive, just and lasting peace mean?” he said.
Costa said that it means that peace in Ukraine and Europe’s security cannot be separated.
“It means that we take into account that the Russian threat goes beyond Ukraine. Russia dominates Belarus. Russia has a military presence in Moldova and Georgia. Russia casts a shadow over the Baltic States, the European Union’s eastern border, our democratic systems, our critical infrastructures.”
It means that a comprehensive peace cannot be a simple cease fire, he said.
“It cannot give Russia the opportunity to attack ever again. It cannot reward the aggressor. It must guarantee that Russia will no longer be a threat to Ukraine, to Europe, to its neighbours. That Russia ceases to be a threat to international security.”
In building this peace the European Union will fully assume its responsibilities, Costa said.
“In a nutshell: there will be no credible and successful negotiations, no lasting peace, without Ukraine and without the European Union.”
The European Union after February 2022 is not the same as before, Costa said, referring to the date when Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine started.
“First, we sped up the enlargement to the Western Balkans and opened negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.
“Second, we decided to strengthen our energy security by decoupling from Russia, in a huge collective effort, in particular here in Germany, under Olaf Scholz’s leadership. Third, less than one month after the beginning of the war, in Versailles, all member states decided to effectively deliver on building the Europe of Defence,” Costa said
“Our defence spending rose by 30 per cent since 2021. European Union countries that are in NATO now spend, on average, two per cent for defence. Together we have reached the target. But we will do more. The European Union is a peace project by design. But we know that peace without defence is an illusion,” he said.
(Photo: Council of the EU)
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