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The EU must be involved in negotiations with Russia at the end of the Ukraine war in order to map the future security architecture in Europe, said the president of the block.
The appeal comes while António Costa and other senior European leaders are preparing to meet in Paris to discuss their response to the decision of US President Donald Trump to start talks to end the almost three war years with the Vladimir Putin of Russia.
Paris talks came while the best American and Russia diplomats are preparing for face -to -face talks in Saudi Arabia and will focus on how to respond to quick negotiations, and Trump’s demand for Europe for Reduce his dependence on US military support.
Trump announced last week last week three -year warAlarming European capitals that fear that an agreement may be concluded without their involvement.
“If Trump really wants Europeans to assume greater responsibility for their own security, then of course, Europeans must be the key player in the design of the new security architecture,” Costa told Financial Times.
“It is not only a question of Ukraine,” said Costa, who represents the 27 national leaders of the block, in an interview with the Munich Security Conference this weekend. “Negotiations on the new security architecture must take into account that Russia is a global threat, not just a threat to Ukraine.”
Costa’s remarks came while European capitals were spent by a week of surprise announcements from the Trump administration, including the talks from Saudi Arabia between Marco Rubio and Sergei Lavrov and a scathing speech of the vice-president JD VANCE, who accused European governments of counterfeiting the rule of law and suffering from a “threat of the interior” It was more dangerous than Russia.
Trump’s Ukrainian envoy Kellogg said said on Saturday, said European countries would not have a siege at the table in negotiations, but that they could take into account their point of view.
This came after the United States sent European capitals a request for information on the troops of arms, money and peacekeeping that they could provide to post-conflict Ukraine, in this that those responsible said they are an opportunity to put pressure on the right to influence talks.
“Negotiations are between the belligerents,” said Costa. “Of course, it is necessary to negotiate between Ukraine and Russia. But this war in Ukraine does not only concern Ukraine. This is European security. »»
In the execution of his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin demanded NATO to support its defense deployments in the Eastern European States. NATO and its member states have refused to do so.
Costa has cited the aggressive position of Russia towards the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are members of the EU and NATO, and the occupation of the territory in the States on the EU oriental flank as reasons why Brussels was to be part of the talks.
“Russia is clearly a threat to the sovereignty of the Baltic, at our eastern border,” he said. “They have a military presence in Moldova, Georgia.”
Mark RutteThe NATO secretary general, said that if Europe wanted a role in talks, you had to be clear about what it wanted and what it could offer.
“I was a little taken up by the European reaction saying: Oh, we need a place at the table,” he told journalists in Munich. “If you want a place at the table, be sure to offer relevant proposals. Make sure you spend more. . . in particular with regard to Ukraine. »»
