Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – President of the European Council António Costa said that a simple ceasefire will not lead to peace in Ukraine. He stressed that a comprehensive arrangement that satisfies both Ukraine and Europe is necessary.
António Costa, in a post on X, reported that he convened a meeting with the US President’s Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, to examine the possibilities for peace in Ukraine.
“Peace cannot be a simple ceasefire – we need an agreement that will ensure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine and security in Europe,”
He noted after meeting with Keith Kellogg in Brussels.
According to him, Ukraine can count on Europe.
“We are ready to continue to work constructively with the US to ensure peace and security,”
Costa also said.
In this decisive moment, I met with @generalkellogg to discuss the prospects for peace in Ukraine.
— António Costa (@eucopresident) February 18, 2025
Peace cannot be a simple ceasefire – we need an agreement that will ensure a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine and security in Europe.
Ukraine can count on Europe.… pic.twitter.com/mTwcsnhbJw
What role does António Costa see for Europe in peace talks?
A day earlier, the European Council president said that the European Union must be engaged in talks with Russia over the end of the Ukraine war in order to develop Europe’s future security architecture, the Financial Times reported.
Trump last week announced bilateral discussions with Putin to conclude the almost three-year war.
“If Trump really wants that the Europeans assume greater responsibility for their own security, then of course the Europeans need to be the key actor in designing the new security architecture,”
Costa said to the Financial Times.
“It is not only about Ukraine,” Costa, who represents the bloc’s 27 national leaders, stated in an interview at the Munich Security Conference this weekend. “The negotiations on the new security architecture need to take into account that Russia is a global threat, not only a threat to Ukraine.”
Experts said Costa’s statements came as European capitals spun from a week of unexpected statements from the Trump administration, including the KSA talks between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and a critical speech from US vice-president JD Vance that blamed European governments of violating the rule of law and reeling from a “threat from within” that was more difficult than Russia.
