EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas criticized the "very cynical" desire of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin for a ceasefire only to protect his parade and rejected the proposal of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as an EU mediator for a peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine, UNN reports.
"Firstly, if we give Russia the right to appoint a negotiator on our behalf, it would not be very wise. And secondly, I think Gerhard Schröder was a high-ranking lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies. So it is clear why Putin wants him to be that person, so that he effectively sits on both sides of the negotiating table,"
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When asked to clarify whether the EU should prepare for negotiations with Russia regarding the future of the European security architecture, and whether she believes the EU needs a special representative for this, Kallas pointed out: "First of all, before we discuss with Russia, we must discuss among ourselves what we want to talk to them about, and that is why we have a Gymnich meeting planned with foreign ministers, where we will discuss the proposals that have been put forward to address the issues we have. Because, again, the issue of European security is that Russia constantly attacks its neighbors, and how we can actually prevent this. For this, we need concessions, also from the Russian side."
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"I was in Moldova last week. For example, there are Russian troops there, so one of the conditions for stability and security in the region could also be for them to withdraw their troops. But, of course, there are many questions related to what our demands are for Russia in order to have a stable and peaceful Europe," the EU foreign policy chief indicated.
Kallas reported that the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting would discuss Ukraine. "Of course, we saw that this ceasefire Putin wanted was very cynical, only to protect his parade, while they were actually attacking civilians in Ukraine. Ukraine observed the ceasefire, as it has before, and offered a ceasefire unconditionally, which Russia actually did not uphold," Kallas noted.
"Today we also expect progress on sanctions targeting those people who help deal with the Ukrainian children they deported from Ukraine. We also have a high-level event regarding Ukrainian children: how to actually bring them back, what else the international community can do, because what is being done to these children is horrific," the EU foreign policy chief noted.
"We are proposing sanctions targeting those people who deal with these children to really send the message that you are also responsible. We also have various options and proposals on how to negotiate with the Russians to return the children. And here we need to use all international support, including from those countries that work more closely with Russia. So we will discuss these projects today as well, but it is certainly very difficult," she added.