What a pleasure to welcome you back to Brussels. I am very pleased to be here with you today for our bilateral meeting that we just had but also the VTC that we will then have in the Coalition of the Willing. And of course, I am very glad that I am able to accompany you and other European leaders for the meeting tomorrow that we have with the US President in the White House.
Since the beginning of Russia's brutal invasion, Europe has been at Ukraine's side, united, and we will support you for as long as it takes for a just and lasting peace. And this peace must be achieved through strength. Let me touch upon the main points.
First, we must have strong security guarantees to protect both Ukraine and Europe's vital security interests. Ukraine must be able to uphold its sovereignty and its territorial integrity. There can be no limitations on Ukrainian armed forces, be it cooperation with other third countries or assistance from other third countries – no limitations for the Ukrainian armed forces. As I have often said, Ukraine must become a steel porcupine, undigestible for potential invaders. We welcome President Trump's willingness to contribute to Article 5-like security guarantees for Ukraine. And the Coalition of the Willing, including the European Union, is ready to do its share. We know that the work of defending Europe is first and foremost our responsibility. And we have been working hard to speed up and scale up as we increase Europe's defence capability. Through the SAFE instrument, we are ensuring that the defence needs of Member States and Ukraine can be matched and that Ukraine's industrial defence base is strengthened. I am thinking in particular of drones here. This is in our mutual interest, and I intend to travel to the frontline Member States in the coming weeks. At the same time, we continue to support Ukraine's path to its membership in the European Union. This in itself is also a security guarantee.
My second point with regard to any territorial questions in Ukraine, our position is clear: International borders cannot be changed by force. These are decisions to be made by Ukraine and Ukraine alone, and these decisions cannot be taken without Ukraine at the table.
My third and final point: As long as the bloodshed in Ukraine continues, Europe will maintain diplomatic and, in particular, economic pressure on Russia. We will continue to strengthen sanctions. We have adopted 18 packages so far, and we are advancing preparation for the 19th. This package will be forthcoming in early September. We know that sanctions are effective, we have already put Russia's immobilised assets to work for the benefit of Ukraine, and we will continue to put pressure on Russia's war economy to bring President Putin to the negotiation table.
We are working with you, Volodymyr, and President Trump in this sense. We will discuss all these topics and others in our joint meeting at the White House tomorrow. These are challenging times; only Ukraine can choose its own destiny, but Ukraine can always count on Europe.
