Good afternoon. This morning we had the opportunity to hold a meeting of the coalition of the willing. It was arranged by the UK prime minister and attended, as usual, by our partners from around the world – Canada, Japan, Türkiye, New Zealand – as well as our other European neighbours such as Norway and Iceland. We were able to hold an informal meeting of the European Council and to speak with President Zelenskyy by telephone. I would like to start by saying that we are all grateful for the incredible teamwork displayed by the European leaders who met with President Trump in Washington yesterday, and for the fact that the meeting was able to make concrete progress in the priority areas. There are currently three very clear priorities. Firstly, from a humanitarian perspective, to ensure that the attacks stop and that there is no more killing on Ukrainian soil. Secondly, to resume the process of prisoner exchange and to make progress on the return of the children who have been abducted and who are now missing. Another very important dimension is the preparation of security guarantees for a future peace process, and in that regard it was particularly significant that President Trump confirmed the willingness of the US to participate in the security measures that the coalition of the willing have been working on over the past few months. And finally, to prepare for the desired bilateral, trilateral and quadrilateral talks so that they can take place as soon as possible. From the point of view of the European Union, we discussed the concrete steps that the EU can take to lend credibility to this process and to support President Trump in his peace efforts. There are three key dimensions here. Firstly, increasing pressure on Russia by moving forward with the preparation of the 19th package of sanctions, to ensure that we maintain pressure on Russia to end the war and to stop the killing in Ukraine. Secondly, unlocking the European Peace Facility in order to strengthen Ukraine’s military capabilities. The basis for future security guarantees will always be the Ukrainian armed forces themselves. Therefore, strengthening their capacity is a concrete way to strengthen security measures in the future. And finally, making progress in the enlargement process, as Ukraine’s future requires not just security measures, but also the prospect of the stability, development and prosperity that access to the European Union will provide. It is therefore those dimensions that we are working on, and I believe we will have a lot of work ahead over the coming weeks. We are at a difficult, critical point, and nothing is guaranteed, but we need to continue this work in order to ensure that we are successful. |
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