Costa: This is no time to withdraw support to Ukraine, no time to relieve sanctions on Russia
“This is no time to withdraw the support to Ukraine. This is no time to relieve Russia’s sanctions,” European Council President António Costa said on October 16.
Flanked by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Costa was speaking to reporters ahead of a European Council discussion on continued support for Ukraine, including the operational needs of its critical infrastructure ahead of the winter.
“Now it’s time to increase our support. To increase our pressure. And this is essential to bring Russia to accept a real ceasefire, to bring Russia to the table of negotiations and to stop this war. This is time for peace. This is not time to continue the war,” Costa said.
“You can count on us,” Costa told Zelenskyy.
“Not only to support you in war, but most important for your future as a member of the European Union. This week we opened two more clusters in our negotiation process. We need to continue in this process,” Costa said.
“I would like to commend you and I would like to commend your parliament, because in the middle of a horrific war, you continue to deliver, to negotiate, to approve and to make reforms. Thank you very much for your example as a European. You can count on us as always,” he said.
Von der Leyen said: “Of course, we will speak about winterization, so how to support Ukraine in the upcoming winter. Russia is trying everything to destroy the energy and water infrastructure, but we stand by your side. We will support you as we did it in the other winters. We will overcome”.
“Of course, we supported President Trump’s energy ceasefire, but we have seen that Russia did not respect it, not a single minute,” she said.
“Instead, Russia escalated and therefore we have to increase the pressure on Russia. We are working now on the 22nd sanctions package. And one thing is absolutely clear: We will not lift any sanctions unless Russia stops the war,” Von der Leyen said.
In a message on X after the talks, Zelenskyy said that he had had a good meeting with Costa and Von der Leyen.
“Right now, there are no signals from Russia that it is ready to end its war,” Zelenskyy said.
The signals it is sending point to something entirely different and certainly do not bring peace any closer, he said.
Zelenskyy said that after overnight Russian strikes on energy infrastructure, Russia carried out a horrific strike on Kharkiv this morning.
Two people have already been reported killed. Seventeen others were injured, he said, expressing condolences.
Russia also struck a shopping mall in Rivne and energy facilities in four regions, Zelenskyy said.
“European leadership is needed to ensure that people’s lives are sufficiently protected from this Russian terror,” he said.
“We appreciate that everything we agree on is implemented promptly,” Zelenskyy said.
“Today, we discussed further assistance, first and foremost for our energy and air defence needs. We talked about support for our financial resilience, including for next year, and coordinated our work on the European integration track,” he said.
“It is important that new negotiating clusters were opened this week. We are working to open the remaining two by the end of the year. Thank you, António! Thank you, Ursula! Thank you, EU!” Zelenskyy said.
