Following meetings in Brussels with the US Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, stressed that the EU was ready to work with the United States for a lasting and just peace.
The day before, Mr Kellogg had made it clear that the Europeans would not be sitting at the negotiating table (see EUROPE 13581/1). But on Tuesday, following a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that the EU “will have to be at the negotiating table at some point, because it too has imposed sanctions” against Russia.
On X, Mr Costa explained that the EU was ready to continue working “constructively” with the United States to guarantee peace and security. “Peace cannot be a simple ceasefire - we need an agreement that guarantees a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine and security in Europe. Ukraine can count on Europe”, he added.
According to a Commission report, Ms von der Leyen expressed “the EU’s willingness to work alongside the United States to end the bloodshed and help secure the just and lasting peace that Ukraine and its people rightly deserve”. She reiterated that any resolution of the conflict must respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, backed by solid security guarantees.
European Commission spokesman Stefan de Keersmaecker stressed that “no solution concerning Ukraine can be found without Ukraine or without the EU”.
Ms von der Leyen reminded Mr Kellogg that the EU was not a second-tier player and had a “critical role” in ensuring Ukraine’s financial stability and defence, “with a total commitment of €135 billion, more than any other ally. This includes $52 billion in military assistance, matching US contributions”.
In the European Parliament, the leaders of the EPP, S&D, Renew Europe and Greens/EFA political groups also warned on 18 February that “there can be no negotiations on Ukraine without the presence of Ukraine and the European Union at the negotiating table. There can be no negotiations on European security without the EU .
In a joint declaration, they called on Europe to strengthen its own security. In their view, the EU must “double down on our joint European effort in defence of Ukraine and European security as a whole by establishing a credible and strong deterrence against any aggression towards the EU and its partners”. This must include “immediate action, with NATO and likeminded non-EU allies, to invest in a more efficient and integrated European security and defence architecture”, as well as the necessary funding for defence policy, in particular to strengthen the defence industrial base with the rapid adoption of a “robust and effective European Defence Industrial Programme (EDIP)”.
To see the statement: https://aeur.eu/f/fk7
On a visit to Turkey, the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that Ukraine and Europe in the broadest sense (EU, Turkey, UK) should take part in discussions and draw up the necessary security guarantees with the US concerning “the fate of our part of the world”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)