At the EU summit, Brussels' relations with the Kremlin were the main topic of discussion
Most of the time allotted for discussing Ukraine during the European Union summit was taken up by a discussion of the contacts between Brussels and the Kremlin that had already taken place.
Earlier, media reports indicated that the team of European Council President António Costa had initiated contact with representatives of Vladimir Putin.
This became a topic of discussion during the meeting of EU leaders in Brussels.
According to sources, this topic took up the most time for EU heads of state and government.
As noted, the discussion began while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was still present and continued after his departure, as a significant number of leaders wished to speak.
As a result, the discussion continued for another 1.5–2 hours after the conclusion of the Ukrainian segment of the summit.
No formal decisions were adopted; however, according to media reports, some leaders expressed dissatisfaction that contacts with the Kremlin had been initiated without full consultation with all members of the European Council.
At the same time, EU sources claim that António Costa consulted with the capitals, but not with all leaders.
Diplomatic sources note that during contacts with the Russian side, there was no discussion of substantive negotiations, but only of “opening a channel of communication.”
It is also emphasized that Costa is not currently negotiating with Putin; there is consensus within the EU that now is not the time for negotiations with the Kremlin, and any future negotiations would require a separate mandate from EU leaders.
According to unconfirmed reports, this refers to two telephone conversations between Koshta’s chief of staff, Pedro Lurtier, and Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, which took place over the past few weeks.
According to sources, the Ukrainian side has repeatedly called on the European Union to become more actively involved in the negotiation process aimed at ending the war with Russia.
This was reported by “European Truth.”
Hungary has pushed to remove language regarding Ukraine’s accelerated accession to the EU from the final declaration of the European Union summit.
Ukraine’s plan to open all negotiation chapters in the EU accession process in July 2026 may be derailed due to a lack of time to coordinate positions and carry out the necessary procedures.
Katarina Maternova, the European Union’s Ambassador to Ukraine, considers the prospects for our country to achieve full EU membership by 2030 to be entirely realistic and viable.
