Russia under President Vladimir Putin first undermined and ultimately destroyed Europe’s security architecture, European Council President Antonio Costa said on Thursday, AFP reported, as cited by Agerpres. His remarks came after the United States called on Russia to agree to a new security pact with Europe.
“Europe had a functioning security architecture until it was first gradually undermined and then ultimately destroyed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” he said in Dublin ahead of a summit of European leaders.
Costa insisted that, when it comes to European security, “there is no need to reinvent the wheel,” and said that “any future debate on this issue must take this fact into account” and build on established principles that “remain as relevant and indispensable to a just and lasting peace today as they were 50 years ago,” EFE reports.
The Conditions Set for Russia
These principles, he said, are “sovereign equality among European nations, refraining from the threat or use of force, the inviolability of borders, the territorial integrity of states, and the peaceful settlement of disputes.”
For his part, the President of the European Council said that Europe’s priorities for peace in Ukraine are very clear: a ceasefire, concrete and tangible progress in the Black Sea, and efforts to create the conditions needed for a peace agreement.
“The key condition for all of this to be possible remains whether Russia is genuinely interested in peace,” he said.
At the same time, Costa warned that the coming weeks would be “a decisive test” of Russia’s willingness to end the war in Ukraine.
Russia is currently focused on “its attacks on Ukrainian civilians. This must change for peace to be possible, and the coming weeks will be a decisive test of Russia’s willingness to end this war,” he said in Dublin.
Costa also called for a joint effort by European countries, the European Union and NATO to ensure that Europe speaks with one voice in peace negotiations with Russia.
“Europe’s security cannot be discussed without a European voice at the negotiating table. That European voice must be the result of a joint effort by European nations, the European Union and NATO,” Costa said in his address to the leaders of the European Political Community (EPC), adding that the EU “is playing its part.”