EU support for Ukraine remains “as strong as ever” and should be stepped up rather than scaled back, European Council President António Costa said during remarks alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
There was “no time to withdraw the support” for Ukraine and “no time to relieve Russia’s sanctions”, he stated, cited by the European Council on Friday.
Instead, the EU should increase both its support for Ukraine and its pressure on Russia, Costa said.
He added that this was needed to bring Russia to accept a “real ceasefire”, to get it to the negotiating table, and to stop the war.
EU membership talks
Costa also told Zelenskyy that Ukraine could count on EU backing for its future as a member state.
He said two more “clusters” had been opened this week in the negotiation process — a reference to groups of policy areas that countries must negotiate and align with EU rules during accession talks.
Costa praised Ukraine’s parliament for continuing to negotiate, pass legislation and pursue reforms during the war.
