00:00You're next to me.
00:01Thank you so much.
00:02Welcome.
00:10Good afternoon and welcome to the Commission's press room.
00:14We are here with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen,
00:18and the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky,
00:21for a press point following their bilateral meeting.
00:25President.
00:25Thank you very much, Mr. President.
00:27Dear Volodymyr, what a pleasure to welcome you.
00:30Welcome back to Brussels.
00:31I'm very pleased to be here with you today for our bilateral meeting that we just had,
00:38but also then the VTC that we will have in the Coalition of the Willing.
00:42And of course, I'm very glad that I'm able to accompany you and other European leaders
00:47for the meeting tomorrow that we do have with the U.S. President in the White House.
00:52Since the beginning of Russia's brutal invasion,
00:55Europe has been at Ukraine's side, united, and we will support you for as long as it takes
01:03for just and lasting peace.
01:06And this peace must be achieved through strength.
01:09Let me touch upon the main points.
01:11First, we must have strong security guarantees to protect both Ukraine and Europe's vital security interests.
01:21Ukraine must be able to uphold its sovereignty and its territorial integrity.
01:26There can be no limitations on Ukrainian armed forces, be it cooperation with or other third countries or assistance from other third countries.
01:40No limitations for the Ukrainian armed forces.
01:42As I've often said, Ukraine must become a steel porcupine, undigestible for potential invaders.
01:51We welcome President Trump's willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine.
02:00And the Coalition of the Willing, including the European Union, is ready to do its share.
02:05We know that the work of defending Europe is first and foremost our responsibility.
02:12And we've been working hard to speed up and scale up as we increase Europe's defense capability.
02:19Through the safe instrument, we are ensuring that the defense needs of member states and Ukraine can be matched
02:28and that Ukraine's industrial defense base is strengthened.
02:33I am thinking in particular of drones here.
02:38This is in our mutual interest, and I intend to travel to the frontline member states in the coming weeks.
02:45At the same time, we continue to support Ukraine's path to its membership in the European Union.
02:52This in itself is also a security guarantee.
02:55My second point, with regards to any territorial questions in Ukraine, our position is clear.
03:05International borders cannot be changed by force.
03:09These are decisions to be made by Ukraine and Ukraine alone.
03:14And these decisions cannot be taken without Ukraine at the table.
03:20My third and final point, as long as the bloodshed in Ukraine continues,
03:26Europe will maintain diplomatic and, in particular, economic pressure on Russia.
03:32We will continue to strengthen sanctions.
03:36We have adopted 18 packages so far, and we are advancing preparation for the 19th.
03:43This package will be forthcoming in early September.
03:47We know that sanctions are effective.
03:50We have already put Russia's immobilized assets to work for the benefit of Ukraine.
03:56And we will continue to put pressure on Russia's war economy to bring President Putin to the negotiation table.
04:04We're working with you, Volodymyr, and President Trump in this sense.
04:10And we will discuss all these topics and others in our joint meeting at the White House tomorrow.
04:16These are challenging times.
04:18Only Ukraine can choose its own destiny.
04:21But Ukraine can always count on Europe.
04:24Thank you so much.
04:25Thank you so much.
04:26Dear Ursula, thank you for your support.
04:32Thank you for this day.
04:33It's very important for all your support from the very beginning of this war.
04:38And it's very important that you are with us and that we speak to America and we speak together.
04:46And it's important that Washington is with us.
04:49And today, in several formats, we are deciding what we are going to discuss in Washington.
04:58So, dear 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.
05:10This unity really helps to reach real peace and it must stay strong.
05:16Of course, of course, we have to stop the killings.
05:19Putin has many demands, but we do not know all of them.
05:22And if there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all.
05:30It's impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons.
05:34So, it's necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal.
05:40We'll talk about it in Washington.
05:43Putin does not want to stop the killing, but he must do it.
05:47Second, we need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now.
05:54The contact line is the best line for talking.
05:57And Europeans support this.
05:59And we thank everyone.
06:01Russia is still unsuccessful in Donetsk region.
06:06Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years.
06:11And the constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible, impossible to give up territory or trade land.
06:18Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia
06:26and the trilateral Ukraine, United States, Russia.
06:30So far, Russia gives no sign that trilateral will happen.
06:34And if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow.
06:39This word, it's important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine.
06:45And we are very thankful to the United States and to the president for such signal, and therefore, for everyone in Europe.
06:52This is a significant change.
06:54But there are no details how it will work, and what America's role will be, what Europe's role will be, what the EU can do.
07:04And this is our main task.
07:07We need security to work in practice, like Article 5 of NATO, and we consider EU accession to be part of security guarantees.
07:18And we have heard from President Trump that America and Putin see it the same way.
07:26So we talked about the EU accession negotiations.
07:30There can be no division between Ukraine and Moldova.
07:37That would simply be a very bad move, to my mind.
07:40And if such a division takes place, it will automatically mean that Europe is divided on Ukraine,
07:47that Europe does not have a common and strong position on guarantees.
07:51Many in Europe see that vision will only make things worse.
07:54And we talked about defense, and thank you very much, dear Ursula.
07:59We agreed to work more actively on programs such as SAFE, and I count on the support with drones.
08:08First of all, this is priority.
08:09Next, thank you for the 18th package of sanctions.
08:15It's important.
08:15We need to prepare the 19th package so that Russia sees that we are serious.
08:21We understand Russia's strategic direction.
08:26It's anti-European, and so we must continue to limit Russia's potential.
08:32Finally, we talked about the support of Ukrainian children in schools,
08:37and we have a school meal program,
08:39and it's an important program that ensures that children from every family in wartime
08:45at least receive security and receive a normal hot meal.
08:50The school year is coming soon, and I asked Ursula to help us improve this program.
08:59It's our children.
08:59It's our future.
09:00Everything for them.
09:05Thank you very much to both presidents.
09:08We can now take a couple of questions.
09:10Katharina, the first question.
09:13Katharina, you're done for the German Press Agency.
09:15You have microphones in front of you.
09:17If you can take one, that will be fantastic.
09:19Thanks a lot.
09:20Okay.
09:21Okay, better?
09:23So, Katharina Redans for the German Press Agency.
09:26A question to both presidents.
09:28Do you agree with President Trump that there is no need for a ceasefire
09:31and that peace negotiations should begin immediately?
09:35So, you know, I think not the term is so important.
09:47Important is, and it matters, what's the effect.
09:51And the effect must be stop the killing.
09:53That's the most important part.
09:55Whether we call it a ceasefire or it's a peace deal, stop the killing.
10:00Point number one.
10:02Therefore, it is so important to have as soon as possible a trilateral meeting.
10:07A trilateral meeting between the president of Ukraine, the president of the United States and of Russia.
10:16And I think very important is that there are clear timelines to be kept.
10:22So, it's not the term itself, it's the content that matters.
10:28Thanks so much.
10:29I totally agree with Ursula.
10:31And, you know, that from the very beginning, I think it was March when the president of the United States,
10:37he proposed ceasefire, like a first element stopping killing.
10:41And we agreed it and we supported him.
10:43And I think it was a very strong idea moving, pushing Russia to real negotiations.
10:52And now we hear another signals.
10:56I think that we have to share it, all this, with details and what Ursula said about
11:01and what we talked bilaterally and what we will talk now with all our coalitions, with all the Europeans.
11:09And we have to share all our thoughts with President Trump.
11:13We need the United States on our side.
11:16And I think that President Trump shared that we need peace, but steps to this peace.
11:23We need, you know, right, correct steps to have lasting peace.
11:27To stop Putin, it means not to make a pause in this war.
11:31Stop and have a lasting peace.
11:33Yeah, for all of us.
11:35I will start in Ukraine if possible.
11:44O.O.O.O.O.O.N.A.
11:45Олена Врамович, Radio Свобода, Ukrainian служба.
11:49P.P.: President, Putin said that he understood that Ukraine need security.
11:55There is a discussion about President Trump.
11:58Can you ask, if he explained that he saw the security of Ukraine for the Ukraine,
12:02that are accepted for Russia?
12:04And how are the security of security of Ukraine, that are accepted for Ukraine?
12:07i'm sorry if i may also to the uh madame president another question i think i think
12:32i think we're good with one because they have a call soon thank you can i answer
12:39thank you thank you thank you for this question first of all i don't know about what really
12:45talked about putin and president trump and i want to have a lot of details that president
12:51trump said no and then european leader and the fact that president trump said about
12:56guarantees for me it's much more important than the thoughts of putin because putin
13:01no guarantee of security guarantee of security it's a strong army it can only give ukraine
13:06financing of this army it can only give europe the weapons for this army it can only give
13:13our internal products and european products but there are deficient things that are only in the united states of america
13:20this is a guarantee of security or they are connected to troops on the ground or there is a protection
13:26as in some other countries in the sky you know about what you are
13:29whether we have a modern total number of air defense it's only now a question
13:37on them we really want to get the answer to understand what is the guarantee of security
13:42what you are saying i think this is signals of the Russian side of the side that they will not
13:48they will continue to occupy us but if i'm honest it's still just words and on the level of the three-sided
13:59meeting they are ready to speak what is related to the white house i am very productive and in
14:06i am very proud of my sense in my sense i am very proud of my sense
14:13mr president do you have apologies apologies apologies apologies sorry sorry sorry if we go
14:19you allow me the president's have a meeting now thank you thank you
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