FRANCE 24 was granted exclusive access to EU Council President Antonio Costa, just before he left for Ukraine to mark the third anniversary of the war. He responds to US President Donald Trump’s direct talks with the Russian government, insisting that negotiations will not be credible, nor achieve results, if they exclude Ukraine and the EU. Costa reiterates that peace in Ukraine cannot be separated from security in Europe. We discuss how he is sounding out EU member states on what security guarantees they might be willing to give Ukraine; the possibility of appointing an EU special envoy for Ukraine; and whether the big splurge in defence spending championed by French President Emmanuel Macron is realistic at the EU level.
