I attended a meeting of the European Council on Thursday, 24 March and Friday, 25 March in Brussels. This was the third meeting of EU leaders within a month and since Russia's brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February. Prior to my attendance at the most recent meeting, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, updated the House on my participation at the other meetings - a special meeting of the European Council on 24 February and an informal meeting of the European Council in Versailles on 10 and 11 March.
The European Council of the 24 and 25 March had a full agenda addressing the most pressing issues facing the Union and our neighbourhood. While our meeting took place in advance of the evidence emerging in recent days of large-scale horrific crimes against civilians, EU leaders have condemned the war since the start as immoral and unjustifiable, and we did so again on 24 March.
We discussed the impact of Russia's aggression from a range of perspectives: humanitarian, migration, energy, nuclear security and safety, and reconstruction. We agreed to establish a Ukraine solidarity trust fund. We discussed security and defence and endorsed the strategic compass. This is a strategy document that will provide enhanced political direction for the Union's approach to security and defence policy for the next five to ten years. We discussed energy, including energy prices, storage, energy security and phasing out dependence on Russian coal, gas and oil.
We will continue to work together on a range of other areas from cybersecurity to energy.
President Zelenskyy also joined us via video link. As he did in this House this morning, he called for strengthened EU sanctions, accountability for the perpetrators of unspeakable crimes in Ukraine and an accelerated process to allow Ukraine to join the EU. He has my full support. In the discussion that followed, leaders condemned Russia's actions in Ukraine, which are a gross violation of international law causing appalling loss of life and injury to civilians and destroying the vital infrastructure of a peaceful country. President Putin's regime and its supporters should be in no doubt that justice will rise up and those responsible will be held accountable for their crimes. Leaders also reaffirmed the Versailles declaration, acknowledging the European aspirations and European choice of Ukraine. Just as Ireland has over time made its own informed choices about who we are, our priorities and with whom we align ourselves, so too should Ukraine be able to make its choices.
The EU will continue to provide co-ordinated political, financial, material and humanitarian support. We call on the European Commission to continue to provide technical assistance to Ukraine to undertake the steps necessary to facilitate its path to EU candidate status. Looking to the future, we agreed to develop a Ukraine solidarity trust fund to support the costs of the government of Ukraine, which is continuing to work on behalf of its people despite the immense challenges it faces, and to help support the reconstruction of the country when the time comes. Leaders called on all countries to align with existing sanctions, which are having a massive impact on Russia and Belarus. Ireland stands ready to adopt further robust sanctions with our EU partners and ensure that any attempts to circumvent sanctions or to aid Russia by other means are stamped out.
We also discussed the impact of the conflict on displaced people, refugees and hosting states, especially those on Ukraine's borders. We recognise the need for collective efforts to support and provide for refugees. Irish people moved quickly to provide protection to Ukrainians driven from their homes. It will not be without cost and challenge but it is the right thing to do. Recognising the pressures across the EU, we call for work to be completed on European Commission proposals to support member states in this regard.
I will speak further on the question of energy shortly, but in the context of Ukraine we underlined our commitment to ensuring continuous and uninterrupted electricity and gas flows to the country. The recent synchronisation of Ukrainian and Moldovan electricity grids with the EU's grids is a remarkable achievement and shows that our futures are now interconnected. It is also enormously important that the safety of Ukrainian nuclear facilities is ensured, including through the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency. This will also remain a focus.
I am acutely aware of the negative impact high prices are having on households and businesses, especially our vulnerable citizens and SMEs. We looked at various options to cushion the impact. A number of measures aimed at curbing rising energy prices were discussed, drawing on options presented by the Commission. To provide relief to consumers, member states were encouraged to continue to make the best use of the toolbox of measures identified by the Commission, including the application of the state aid temporary crisis framework as a time-limited departure from the status quo, temporary taxation of windfall profits and various direct supports to consumers.
We also re-elected the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, for a second term ending in November 2024. I congratulated him on his re-election and look forward to continued positive collaboration with him, including at future meetings of the European Council.
We find ourselves at a historic inflection point. European Union leaders are working together in an unprecedented way to leverage our collective economic, strategic and political power and influence to stop Russia's war in Ukraine. We want to see a just end to this war and will continue to apply targeted and increased pressure to bring that about, in partnership with like-minded global partners. Ukraine deserves no less.
The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan will address economic issues and external relations in his wrap-up remarks.
Leaders agreed to hold a special meeting of the European Council to follow up on the issues discussed. This will take place in advance of the scheduled meeting the European Council in June. I will continue to report to the House on these discussions.