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EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has warned that peace efforts on Ukraine risk entrenching Russian aggression unless Moscow is forced to make real concessions.
Speaking on Europe Today, Kallas expressed concerns around US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine, which have not yielded results so far. She said the impasse reflects a lack of seriousness from the Kremlin as Ukraine is pushed for concessions.
“They (Russian negotiators) don’t really have serious people behind that table,” she said. “I don’t expect anything to come out of this” round of talks.
Delegations from Ukraine and Russia met last week in Abu Dhabi which Ukrainians called “constructive” as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more air defense after an attack over the weekend on Ukraine with 400 drones and 40 missiles.
Kallas acknowledged that the Trump administration has brought both sides to the negotiating table for the first time since the full-scale invasion began but stressed that the imbalance between in demands asked of Kyiv compared to Moscow is stark.
“We only have seen what Ukrainians are willing to concede in order to end this war,” she said. “We haven’t seen any concessions on the Russian side.”
Zelenskyy said he expects Trump to push for a summer deadline to end the war in June and would be prepared to increase the pressure on both if the deadline is missed.
Trump has repeatedly placed – and failed – to meet deadlines to end the war.
Kallas said painful concessions, mostly centered around territories, are for Ukrainians and Ukrainians alone to made. “It is up to Ukrainians to decide what kind of concessions they are willing to make,” she said, while warning about Russian negotiating tactics.
“They demand something absolute maximum, something that has never been yours, then present threats, ultimatums, use force,” Kallas said.
Meanwhile, calls are growing for the EU to appoint a special envoy to represent the bloc and back Ukraine at the negotiating table after being sidelined by US-brokered efforts.
Still, Kallas downplayed the importance of names and personalities, insisting that the focus should be on the mandate and objective behind appointing an envoy.
“The point right now is not the person who does it, but more like how and what we want to get out of this,” she told Euronews. “If the Russians think they are getting their maximum goals from the Americans, why should they want to talk to the Europeans?”
“We will only make demands for them,” she added.
Instead, Kallas argued Russia must be put in a position where it moves “from pretending to negotiate to actually negotiate,” which would require strength unity from the West.
The EU and the US have clashed on their vision of what peace should look like in Ukraine, with an initial peace plan negotiated directly with Russia drawing concerns from the Europeans that Ukraine would be forced into a bad deal.
Since, the plan has gone through numerous amendments alongside a reconstructive and prosperity plan for Ukraine through 2040, but peace talks have not advanced.
Watch the full interview in the player above. Europe Today broadcasts on Euronews at 8am CET Monday to Friday, on television, euronews.com and social media.
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