EU considers creating European Security Council with Ukraine
Photo: Heorhii Tykhyi, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The European Union is proposing to create a new security council. Ukraine is ready to participate, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said this during a briefing on the energy truce, in response to a question from an RBC-Ukraine correspondent.
Ukraine ready to strengthen Europe’s security
Tykhyi commented on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s proposal to create a European Security Council in a broader context.
"We noted the high level of attention the European Commission president devoted to Ukraine, the issue of protecting against Russian aggression, and support for our country. And we are grateful to her for the fact that Ukraine was clearly in the focus, in the center, in a special priority of this speech," he noted.
According to the Foreign Ministry spokesperson, this is the right approach because there is currently no greater threat to European security than Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
"We heard a number of other signals, including various ideas for formats to strengthen Europe’s security. We have repeatedly stated that we are ready to engage in closer cooperation with the EU and individual member states to strengthen the security of the continent," Tykhyi said.
Tykhyi believes that all such ideas are worth considering.
"We have already been actively discussing them, we are discussing them now, and we are ready to participate in strengthening Europe’s security," the spokesperson concluded.
EU's proposal
Earlier, it emerged that the EU would propose creating a European Security Council involving:
- the United Kingdom,
- Canada,
- Norway,
- Ukraine,
- other countries.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the announcement during her annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament on September 16.
She emphasized that the issue is even more urgent now, given the nature and scale of the risks.
The European Union wants to offer Canada the status of the bloc’s first-ever associated member. Von der Leyen emphasized that Europe and Canada share common values.
In addition, the EU plans to significantly strengthen Ukraine’s air defense. One of the key initiatives involves creating a joint air defense system based on the Freyja project. Von der Leyen said Brussels and Kyiv share the goal of developing an affordable, modular missile defense system.
