Both leaders have stressed no peace can be sealed without Brussels and Kyiv at table
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, and António Costa, president of the European Council, will be in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday, to commemorate the three year anniversary of the country’s illegal invasion by Russia.
Expresso reports this morning that “the European leaders have been trying to reinforce their support for Ukraine after a series of hostile interventions on the part of president of the United States, Donald Trump”. The latest being the indication that the term “Russian aggression” is to be deleted from the communiqué (referring to the three year anniversary) of the G7.
Over the past week, President Trump has gone so far as to dub President Zelenskyy “a dictator” with approval ratings of only 4% (Zelenskyy has approval ratings of around 56%), and said he believes Russia should be allowed back into the G7 (which would make it, if this happens, the G8).
Also during this week, Ursula von der Leyen and Mr Costa have met in Brussels with the US special envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, and told him that the EU stands to do even more, in terms of supporting/ equipping Ukraine, on the basis that the US is pulling back. It is also willing to sit at the negotiating table, working “alongside the United States” and in a “constructive manner” to “end the bloodshed and help secure the just and lasting peace that Ukraine and its people rightfully deserve”.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Costa stressed once again that “peace cannot be a simple ceasefire” but an agreement that “guarantees a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine and security in Europe.”
Nothing leaked from Kellogg except a brief post on social network X about the “great discussions this morning in Brussels with EU President Costa.” Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine did not mention the meeting with von der Leyen.
Whether General Kellogg – who had a meeting in Kyiv with President Zelenkyy yesterday (at which no press conference was allowed, on orders from Washington) – reassured Brussels about the bilateral negotiations staged with Russia is unknown, explain reports.
During the daily press briefing, European Commission spokesman Stefan De Keersmaecker repeated several times that “we are at the beginning of a process in which several meetings are taking place”. He stressed also that there is no doubt that no peace can be sealed without Brussels and Kyiv at the table.
