EU leaders join meeting in London: ‘Turning Ukraine into a steel porcupine indigestible for potential invaders’

Ukraine needs strong security guarantees, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said yesterday in London, at a summit convened by the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

António Costa said the EU was ready to work with all European partners and other allies on a peace plan to Ukraine to ensure a just and lasting peace for Ukrainian people.

“We must learn from the past. We cannot repeat the Minsk experience. We cannot repeat the Afghanistan tragedy. And for that, we need strong security guarantees. Peacemaking goes hand in hand with peacekeeping,” Costa told journalists.

Ursula von der Leyen said that the comprehensive security guarantees include that Ukraine should be in a position of strength, with the means to strengthen and defend itself, from economic survival to military resilience.

“It is basically turning Ukraine into a steel porcupine that is indigestible for potential invaders,” Von der Leyen said. 

She also suggested urgently to rearm Europe. At the next European Council, on 6 March, she will present a plan on how to do it.

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Remarks by Antonio Costa

Doorstep by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen