“The Ukrainians are alone. If they were with the Europeans, they would undoubtedly be much stronger, but I am confident that the Ukrainians will defend themselves,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Kaja Kallas said upon her arrival at the group’s Council of Defense Ministers, asking whether she believed Washington could guarantee a good solution for Ukraine.
“Decisive week” for Ukraine
The former Estonian Prime Minister considered that this “could be a decisive week for diplomacy.”
He commented, “We heard yesterday that the talks in the United States were difficult but productive. We do not know the results yet, but today I will speak with the Ukrainian Defense Minister and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister.”
To strengthen Ukraine’s position in the negotiations, Kallas called for putting pressure on Russia by imposing more sanctions on the one hand, and on the other hand, continuing to provide Kiev with military, financial and humanitarian support.
He added: “It is clear that Russia does not want peace, so we must strengthen Ukraine as much as possible so that it is ready to defend itself in these difficult times.”
Demands on the Russian army
In response to a question about statements made last week that Russia should reduce its armed forces, Kallas insisted that “if pressure is to be put on the Ukrainian army, which has not invaded anyone, then pressure must also be put on the Russian army.”
He commented: “It is the Russian army that poses a danger to everyone, and I do not mean the European countries, but all the countries neighboring Russia. If you look at the 19 countries that have invaded Russia in the past 100 years, you will find them all in danger. If the Russian army is large, and if its military budget is as large as it is now, they will want to use it again.”
Use of frozen Russian assets
Regarding the possibility of using Russian assets held up by sanctions, most of which are deposited in Belgium, for the benefit of Ukraine, Callas acknowledged that this country has “legitimate concerns about the risks,” but noted that “all other member states have expressed their willingness to share those risks.”
“We will not leave the (European) Council in December without reaching a result on financing Ukraine,” he added, referring to the community leaders summit scheduled to be held on the 18th and 19th in Brussels.
Support from European Union Defense Ministers
Dutch Defense Minister Robin Brekelmans, who announced that his country would contribute another 250 million euros to NATO’s PURL initiative to purchase American weapons for Ukraine, confirmed that the European Union “is coordinating with both Ukraine and the United States.”
He considered that his counterpart in Luxembourg, Euriko Pax, had asked Russia to stop making “maximum demands that amount to Ukraine’s surrender, which is clearly unacceptable.”
In the same vein, Latvian Minister Leen Gatiri stated that peace should be “on Ukraine’s terms,” while Swedish Minister Pall Jonsson defended the EU’s help for Ukraine to “negotiate from a position of strength.”
Previous talks in Florida and Geneva
Delegations headed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio; White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Rustam Omerov, and First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Sergei Kyslytsya, met in Florida (USA) on Sunday.
Previous talks in Geneva between the United States and Ukraine resulted in a proposal for a new 19-point peace agreement, which is more favorable to Kiev and its European partners than the first draft of the agreement agreed upon between Washington and Russia.
RML (EFE, FP, DPA)