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  • European Council
  • Statements and remarks
  • 23 April 2026 18:00

Remarks by President António Costa at the doorstep ahead of the informal meeting of heads of state or government of 23-24 April 2026

Today is a very good day.

We have taken two very important steps in order to strengthen Ukraine:

•    delivering on our €90 billion loan, in order to support Ukraine for this year and next year, to satisfy their main needs for financial support and to defend themselves against Russian aggression;

•    and, the second step, increasing the pressure on Russia, with our 20th package of sanctions.

Now it's time to look forward and to prepare the next step. And the next step is to open formally the first clusters of negotiations for the European accession of Ukraine to the European Union.

Thank you.

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Last review: 24 April 2026