European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday (August 17) there can be no limits on Ukraine's armed forces or outside assistance. The European leader set out Europe's stance on a possible future Russia-Ukraine peace deal in a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Von der Leyen also announced preparations for the bloc's 19th sanctions package on Russia, which she said will be forthcoming in early September. European leaders are expected to join Zelensky at a summit in Washington on Monday (August 18) to discuss a possible peace plan between Ukraine and Russia.
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00:00Thank you very much, Mr. President, dear Volodymyr. What a pleasure to welcome you back to Brussels.
00:06I'm very pleased to be here with you today for our bilateral meeting that we just had,
00:12but also then the VTC that we will have in the Coalition of the Willing.
00:16And of course, I'm very glad that I'm able to accompany you and other European leaders for the meeting tomorrow
00:23that we do have with the U.S. President in the White House.
00:26Since the beginning of Russia's brutal invasion, Europe has been at Ukraine's side, united,
00:34and we will support you for as long as it takes, for just and lasting peace.
00:40And this peace must be achieved through strength. Let me touch upon the main points.
00:46First, we must have strong security guarantees to protect both Ukraine and Europe's vital security interests.
00:54Ukraine must be able to uphold its sovereignty and its territorial integrity.
01:01There can be no limitations on Ukrainian armed forces, be it cooperation with or other third countries
01:11or assistance from other third countries.
01:14No limitations for the Ukrainian armed forces.
01:17As I've often said, Ukraine must become a steel porcupine, undigestible for potential invaders.
01:26We welcome President Trump's willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine.
01:34And the Coalition of the Willing, including the European Union, is ready to do its share.
01:39We know that the work of defending Europe is first and foremost our responsibility.
01:47And we've been working hard to speed up and scale up as we increase Europe's defense capability.
01:53Through the safe instrument, we are ensuring that the defense needs of member states and Ukraine can be matched
02:02and that Ukraine's industrial defense base is strengthened.
02:08I am thinking in particular of drones here.
02:12This is in our mutual interest, and I intend to travel to the frontline member states in the coming weeks.
02:20At the same time, we continue to support Ukraine's path to its membership in the European Union.
02:25This, in itself, is also a security guarantee.
02:30My second point, with regards to any territorial questions in Ukraine, our position is clear.
02:39International borders cannot be changed by force.
02:44These are decisions to be made by Ukraine and Ukraine alone.
02:49And these decisions cannot be taken without Ukraine at the table.
02:54My third and final point, as long as the bloodshed in Ukraine continues,
03:00Europe will maintain diplomatic and, in particular, economic pressure on Russia.
03:07We will continue to strengthen sanctions.
03:10We have adopted 18 packages so far, and we are advancing preparation for the 19th.
03:18This package will be forthcoming in early September.
03:20We know that sanctions are effective.
03:25We have already put Russia's immobilized assets to work for the benefit of Ukraine.
03:31And we will continue to put pressure on Russia's war economy to bring President Putin to the negotiation table.
03:38We are working with you, Volodymyr, and President Trump in this sense.
03:44And we will discuss all these topics and others in our joint meeting at the White House tomorrow.
03:51These are challenging times.
03:53Only Ukraine can choose its own destiny.
03:55But Ukraine can always count on Europe.
03:58Thank you so much.
03:59Thank you so much.
04:02Thank you so much.
04:03Dear Ursula, thank you for your support.
04:06Thank you for this day.
04:07It's very important for all your support from the very beginning of this war.
04:12And it's very important that you are with us and that we speak to America and we speak together.
04:19And it's important that Washington is with us and today in several forms we are deciding what we are going to discuss in Washington.
04:33Dear journalists, it's crucial that Europe is as united now as it was at the very beginning, as it was in 2022, when the full-scale war began.
04:44This unity really helps to reach real peace and it must stay strong.
04:51Of course, we have to stop the killings.
04:53Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them.
04:57And if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all.
05:04It's impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons.
05:08So it's necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal.
05:13We'll talk about it in Washington.
05:17Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it.
05:21Second, we need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now.
05:28The contact line is the best line for talking.
05:32And Europeans support this.
05:34And we thank everyone.
05:37Russia is still unsuccessful in Donetsk region.
05:40Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years.
05:45And the constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible, impossible to give up territory or trade land.
05:53Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia and the trilateral Ukraine, United States, Russia.
06:04So far, Russia gives no sign that trilateral will happen.
06:09And if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow.
06:13This word is important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine.
06:20And we are very thankful to the United States and to the president for such signal.
06:24And therefore, for everyone in Europe, this is a significant change.
06:29But there are no details how it will work.
06:32And what America's role will be, what Europe's role will be, what the EU can do.
06:39And this is our main task.
06:41We need security to work in practice like Article 5 of NATO.
06:47And we consider EU accession to be part of security guarantees.
06:53And we have heard from President Trump that America and Putin see it the same way.
07:01So we talked about the EU accession negotiations.
07:04There can be no division between Ukraine and Moldova.
07:11That would simply be a very bad move, to my mind.
07:15And if such a division takes place, it will automatically mean that Europe is divided on Ukraine,
07:21that Europe does not have a common and strong position on guarantees.
07:25Many in Europe see that vision will only make things worse.
07:29And we talked about defense.
07:32And thank you very much, dear Ursula.
07:34We agreed to work more actively on programs such as SAFE.
07:38And I count on the support with drones.
07:42First of all, this is priority.
07:44Next, thank you for the 18th package of sanctions.
07:49It's important.
07:50We need to prepare the 19th package so that Russia sees that we are serious.
07:56We understand Russia's strategic direction.
08:00It's anti-European.
08:02And so we must continue to limit Russia's potential.
08:07Finally, we talked about the support of Ukrainian children in schools.
08:11And we have a school meal program.
08:13And it's an important program that ensures that children from every family in wartime at least receive security
08:22and receive a normal hot meal.
08:25The school year is coming soon.
08:26And I asked Ursula to help to improve, to help us improve this program.
08:33It's our children.
08:34It's our future.
08:35Everything for them.
08:36Thank you very much to both presidents.
08:42We can now take a couple of questions.
08:45Katarina, the first question.
08:47Katarina Redans for the German Press Agency.
08:49You have microphones in front of you.
08:51If you can click one, that will be fantastic.
08:53Thanks a lot.
08:54Okay.
08:56Okay.
08:56Better?
08:57So, Katarina Redans for the German Press Agency.
09:00I have a question to both presidents.
09:02Do you agree with President Trump that there is no need for a ceasefire and that peace negotiations should begin immediately?
09:13So, you know, I think not the term is so important.
09:21Important is, and it matters, what's the effect.
09:25And the effect must be stop the killing.
09:28That's the most important part.
09:30Whether we call it a ceasefire or it's a peace deal, stop the killing.
09:34Point number one.
09:36Therefore, it is so important to have as soon as possible a trilateral meeting.
09:41Trilateral meeting between the president of Ukraine, the president of the United States and of Russia.
09:50I think very important is that there are clear timelines to be kept.
09:56So, it's not the term itself.
09:58It's the content that matters.
10:00Thanks so much.
10:01I totally agree with Ursula.
10:04And, you know, that from the very beginning, I think it was March when the president of the United States, he proposed ceasefire.
10:11Like a first element stopping killing.
10:13And we agreed and we supported him.
10:15And I think it was a very strong idea moving, pushing Russia to real negotiations.
10:25And now we hear another signals.
10:27And I think that we have to share it, all this, with details and what Ursula said about and what we talked bilaterally and what we will talk now with all our coalitions.
10:40And we have to share it, all this, with all the Europeans.
10:42And we have to share it, all our thoughts with President Trump.
10:46We need the United States on our side.
10:48And I think that President Trump shared that we need peace, but steps to this peace.
10:56We need, you know, right, correct steps to have lasting peace.
11:00To stop Putin, it's meant not to make a pause in this war.
11:03Stop and have lasting peace.
11:05Yeah, for all of us.
11:09Thanks.
11:09Second and last question to Olyna.
11:15I will start in Ukraine if possible.
11:17Olyna Bramovich, Radio Свобода, Українська служба.
11:21Panie Президенте, Путін сказав, що розуміє, що Україні потрібні гарантії безпеки.
11:28У вас вже була розмова з президентом Трампом.
11:31Скажи, чи озвучив він бачення Росії щодо гарантії безпеки для України, які прийнятні для Росії, так?
11:36І які гарантії безпеки, власне, прийнятні для України?
11:40Чи досі ми говоримо про troops on the ground, тобто війська певні, чи це п'ята стаття, якщо можете поясніть ваше бачення, як це може виглядати?
11:48І коротке, просто, як у вас настрій, чи нема простроги, що в Білому домі може все біти так само, як було 28 лютого?
11:55Дякую.
11:58I'm sorry, if I may also to the Madame President another question.
12:04I think we're good with one, because we have a call soon.
12:08Very quickly.
12:10Дякую.
12:11Can I answer you?
12:12Дякую.
12:13Дякую за запитання.
12:14Передусім, я не знаю, про що реально говорили Путін і президент Трамп.
12:20І я хочу, щоб багато деталей президент Трамп сказав мені, потім європейським лідерам.
12:26І те, що президент Трамп сказав сигнал про гарантії безпеки, для мене це набагато важливіше, ніж думки Путіна.
12:33Тому що Путін нам не дасть ніяких гарантій безпеки. Гарантій безпеки – це сильна армія. Це може дати тільки Україна.
12:40Фінансування цієї армії – це може дати тільки, я вважаю, Європа.
12:43Зброя для цієї армії – це може дати наше внутрішнє виробництво, європейське виробництво, але є дефіцитні речі, які є тільки у США.
12:53Оце, я вважаю, гарантії безпеки.
12:55Чи підключають, чи є troops on the ground, чи є така захист, як у деяких інших держав в небі, ви знаєте про що.
13:02Чи є у нас можливість мати сучасний total number of air defense.
13:07Це тільки поки що запитання. На них ми дуже хочемо отримати відповідь, щоб розуміти, що таке гарантій безпеки.
13:15Те, про що ви говорите, мені здається, це сигнали русской сторони, що вони не будуть нас далі окуповувати.
13:23Але, якщо чесно, це поки що просто слова і на рівні трьосторонньої зустрічі готові говорити.
13:34Що статсується Білого Думу, я налаштований дуже продуктивно і в гарному сенсі, в усіх сенсах цього слуху.
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