EU stabilising relations with US, claims Council President Costa

The EU is managing to "stabilise its relations with the US", European Council President António Costa told journalists in a group interview in New York during the UN General Assembly.

Costa touched on US reaffirmation of its commitment to NATO and Ukraine, and the trade deal struck between the EU and the US.

"The 27 member states remain united in our relatiosn with the US,” said the Council president, noting that in January, “a lot of people were concerned about the risk of the United States’ withdrawal from NATO.”

In June, Trump raised doubts about the United States’ commitment to NATO, telling reporters that the alliance’s mutual defence pledge could be interpreted in "numerous" ways.

“And the fact is, the NATO allies reached an agreement and the United States reaffirmed their commitment to NATO," Costa said.

Costa said the same applied to Ukraine.

Fears for US abandoning Ukraine misplaced, says Costa

"A lot of people were concerned with the risk that the United States give up on Ukraine, and the fact is the United States continues to support Ukraine,” he said.

Costa noted that the US is “committed to support future security guarantees built on by the coalition of the willing”.

“And more, the US, and personally President Trump, is personally engaged to try to bring Russia to the negotiating table,” he said.

Trump’s meeting with Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin in Alaska in August to enable negotiation for the end of the conflict in Ukraine has not yielded concrete results so far and Russian attacks on Ukraine have since intensified.

 On trade, Costa praised the EU for having reached a trade deal with the US.

"A lot of people were concerned about the risk of a huge trade war. And we reached an agreement,” Costa said.

This deal, he said, provided certainty and predictability, ensuring that the EU enjoyed no worse treatment than other competitors, and avoided taxes on European consumers through tariffs.

 In the trade deal, the EU accepted a 15% tariff on approximately 70% of its exports to the US, a significant increase from the previous 1.2% rate. Although this is lower than the 30% initially threatened by the Trump administration, it still represents the highest transatlantic tariffs in 70 years.