The Kremlin has said that it was Ukraine’s sovereign right to decide whether it wanted to join the European Union.
A spokesman also said that Moscow did not intend to dictate to Kyiv how it should approach the question.
Asked if Ukraine could one day join the European Union, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “This is the sovereign right of any country.”
“We are talking about integration and economic integration processes. And here, of course, no one can dictate anything to any country, and we are not going to do that,” Peskov said.
Mr Peskov added, though, that Russia’s position was different when it came to Ukraine joining military alliances. “There is a completely different position, of course, on security-related issues related to defence or military alliances,” Mr Peskov said.
Meanwhile EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has told US President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, that Europe wants to work with the U.S. in talks aimed at ending the Ukraine war.
“We want to partner with the U.S. to deliver a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” she said in a post on the X social media platform after meeting Kellogg in Brussels.
“Financially and militarily, Europe has brought more to the table than anyone else. And we will step up.” Their meeting took place as US and Russian officials met in Riyadh for the highest-level talks to date between the two former Cold War foes on ending the war in Ukraine.
Von der Leyen’s office said in a statement that during the meeting she had “reiterated that any resolution must respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity, backed by strong security guarantees”.
She also outlined Europe’s plans “to scale up defence production and spending, reinforcing both European and Ukrainian military capabilities”, her office said. Three hours of emergency talks at the Elysee Palace in Paris left leaders of Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, NATO and the European Union without a common view on possible peacekeeping troops after a U.S. diplomatic blitz on Ukraine last week threw a once-solid trans-Atlantic alliance into turmoil.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for U.S. backing while reaffirming he’s ready to consider sending British forces on the Ukrainian ground alongside others “if there is a lasting peace agreement.” There was a rift though with some EU nations, like Poland, which have said they don’t want their military imprint on Ukraine soil. French President Emmanuel Macron was non-committal.
Mr Macron said overnight he spoke by phone to U.S. President Donald Trump and then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following the meeting. “We seek a strong and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Macron said on the social platform X. “To achieve this, Russia must end its aggression, and this must be accompanied by strong and credible security guarantees for the Ukrainians.”
“We will work on this together with all Europeans, Americans, and Ukrainians,” he added. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged the Europeans “need to come to a common conclusion about what we can contribute. And that way we will eventually get a seat at the table,” adding that “just sitting at the table without contributing is pointless.” Starmer said a trans-Atlantic bond remained essential. “There must be a U.S. backstop, because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again,” he said.
