ATHENS

The presidents of the EU Commission and the EU Council on Wednesday stressed the need for “just and lasting peace” for Ukraine.

“A comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine must be the outcome of this terrible war,” said Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa on X.

In reference to Tuesday’s phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, they said: “We hope that yesterday’s phone call is progress in this direction”

“We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine,” von der Leyen and Costa added.

In a 2 ½-hour phone call, Putin and Trump discussed normalizing bilateral ties, prospects for settling the Ukraine conflict, and the situation in the Middle East.