Western capitals should stop offering peace talks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and instead make sure that their promises of security guarantees to Kyiv are not "empty," EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas warned in an interview with the Financial Times, UNN reports.
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EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kallas said it was futile to press Zelenskyy to consider peace talks when Russian dictator Vladimir Putin shows no desire to stop the war.
Callas made the statement ahead of the EU leaders' summit on Thursday, which will discuss how Europe can adapt its support for Kyiv after Donald Trump returns to the White House, the publication notes.
"There is no point in pushing Zelensky to talk when Putin does not want to talk," Callas told the FT. - "We cannot talk about peacekeepers when there is no peace. And why is there no peace? Because Russia does not want peace.
"It is much cheaper to support Ukraine now than to suffer a war later. russia has not changed its goals," said Kallas. - "I mean, we have to be very honest with ourselves about this. What are we really doing now?
On Wednesday evening, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte held talks with Zelenskyy and a small group of EU officials, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to discuss potential options for future European support for Ukraine.
Speaking before the meeting, Rutte said that talk of a peace deal only helped Putin. "If we now start discussing among ourselves what a peace agreement might look like, we will make it easier for the Russians," he said.
"I think it would be very wise to put a little bit of a lid on it and focus on the business at hand...making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to prevent Putin from winning," he said.
Zelenskiy meets with 27 EU leaders on Thursday for additional talks.
EU leaders are set to agree a statement on Thursday pledging to support Ukraine "for as long as it takes and as intensively as it takes. Russia must not prevail," according to a draft agreed by their negotiators and seen by the FT.
Лідери ЄС надішлють Трампу "чітке послання" щодо України - Reuters19.12.24, 10:16
But EU leaders reportedly remain divided over what they can provide Kyiv and what long-term support commitments they want to offer, including troop deployments, long-range weapons, or support for the country's NATO membership ambitions.
"The main question is, what is the security guarantee? What is it that is actually tangible?" said Kallas. - "If it's not troops, if it's not long-range weapons that actually protect you and defend you when someone attacks you?"
"All the [EU] member states that have signed security guarantee agreements with Ukraine have to answer: what are they?" she added. - "I mean, really, what are they willing to put on the table so that these security guarantees are not empty?"
French President Emmanuel Macron first raised the idea of deploying European troops to Ukraine in February. The concept has been discussed by some officials since Trump's election in the context of a potential peacekeeping force to enforce the ceasefire agreement.
But Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, at a press conference with Macron last week, categorically rejected any "speculation" about European troops in Ukraine. This idea is also strongly rejected by other key capitals, such as Berlin.
"There is no training [of troops]," said one EU diplomat. - "There is no structured discussion in the EU on this yet.
"We should not underestimate our own power and overestimate Russia's power," Callas said. - "We have to do everything we can to strengthen Ukraine right now, because the stronger they are on the battlefield, the stronger they are at the negotiating table - if they get to that point.
"Є позитив": Зеленський про обговорення розміщення миротворців в Україні19.12.24, 08:40