Support for Ukraine is not only a way to protect values, but also a signal to the rest of the world that international order is necessary, European Council President Charles Michel has said.

"Ukraine, the Middle East – it requires more dialogue, more effort to make sure that we defend our common interests. For instance, yesterday, in this phone call with Donald Trump, we had the occasion to discuss Ukraine and the Middle East, and I am absolutely convinced that in the coming days, weeks, we will continue to work with the United States to identify how we can defend our common values and principles," he said at a press conference after an informal meeting of EU heads of state and government in Budapest on Friday.

Michel said there were many times in the European Council to reaffirm support for Ukraine in various areas.

"And I am absolutely convinced that supporting Ukraine is not only a way to defend our values, but also a way to send a signal to the rest of the world that the international order is essential and that we want to defend the UN Charter and the principle of sovereignty and territorial integrity, because otherwise it makes us all more vulnerable and it makes the world at risk," he said.

The President of the European Council noted that yesterday evening, the EU heads of state and government had the opportunity to exchange views on the transatlantic alliance and relations with the United States after the election of Donald Trump.

"We are ready to cooperate and coordinate in various areas with the United States. And I see three important elements for this coordination and this cooperation. The first is bilateral relations, trade, investment. This is a challenge, we want to strengthen our economic base, and I am sure that we will have the opportunity to work well in this area," he said.

In addition, the leaders discussed global challenges such as climate change, digital technologies, and the transformation of the economic paradigm.

The leaders also exchanged views on competitiveness this morning.

"I would like to summarize what has been said by noting that there is a very strong consensus in the European Council that there is a top priority, namely reducing fragmentation and increasing integration, mainly in the area of trade," Michel said.

Separately, he said that the EU must strengthen European defence preparedness, defence capabilities, "and this means that we need to cooperate much more."

"We also had the opportunity to discuss how we can strengthen the industrial base in this area, because if we want to be reliable in the area of European defence in the future, we must also support greater development of our industrial base in this area," Michel said.