“We warmly welcome the considerable effort to accelerate peace processes here. Until this moment, we have direct talks between the United States and Russia, direct talks between the United States and Ukraine. What our Ukrainian partners tell us is that there has been very positive progress. Therefore, we are obviously pleased with this,” said Paulo Rangel.
“Now, it is crucial to never forget that a solution for Ukraine can only be achieved with Ukraine and it necessarily has to involve, imperatively, there is no other way, the European Union,” along with other European countries like the United Kingdom, Norway, or Turkey, added the Portuguese head of diplomacy, speaking to the Lusa agency in Barcelona, Spain, on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
Paulo Rangel emphasized that “a solution can only be negotiated also with the Europeans,” noting that issues such as the location of security and stabilization forces on the European continent or Europe’s contribution to the reconstruction of Ukraine are at stake.
“Therefore, we will see how things develop. The fact that the Ukrainians report positive steps, I think is commendable. I believe the expectation is high, and the European Union is doing a good job by applying significant pressure on the United States and Ukraine for this process to advance,” added the Portuguese minister, further mentioning that “everything also depends on the ability to persuade Russia to reach a reasonable and balanced solution.”
