EU must not fall into Russian trap on territorial concessions, Kallas warns
Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, warned in a Sept. 13 interview that talks about Ukraine giving up territory fall into the Russian playbook and said Europe must work closer with Washington to combat Moscow.
“The Russians want us to discuss what Ukraine must give up for peace, while completely ignoring the fact that the Kremlin itself has not made any concessions so far,” Kallas told the German news site Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland. “This discussion about possible territorial concessions is a trap, and we must not fall into it… The reward for aggression will be more war, not less.”
The top European diplomat described Russia’s three-step negotiation tactic: demanding what it never had, followed by ultimatums and threats, finished off by the West ready to concede to Moscow’s demands.
Russia's maximalist demands include full control of four Ukrainian regions it only partially occupies — the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Moscow has also demanded that Ukraine recognize the illegal annexation of the regions de jure.
During the Alaskan summit last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined a peace plan that would involve Ukraine ceding unoccupied territory in exchange for Moscow's written promise not to invade again, the New York Times reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump supported Putin’s proposal as the fastest way to peace, officials told the New York Times.
While acknowledging that the Trump administration has “profoundly changed” the way America conducts foreign policy, Kallas said Washington remains the EU’s “most important partner” in countering Moscow’s threats. She said she wants to improve the relationship between Washington and Brussels, and noted progress has been made in recent weeks.
Despite Trump auggesting a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin, the Russian leader said on Sept. 5 he “doesn’t see much point” in meeting his Ukrainian counterpart.
Kallas said the EU should take advantage of Putin stalling as Trump is “very impatient.”
“It always takes two for peace, and one for war. Ukraine wants peace, Americans want peace, Europeans want peace. The only one who mocks and ridicules any peace efforts is Vladimir Putin,” she said.
Putin told Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff that he intends to occupy Ukraine's Donbas region by the end of 2025, Zelensky said in an interview with ABC News published on Sept. 9.
The Ukrainian leader warned that Moscow's plans could cost “years and a million people,” or even “two or three million corpses” if Russia accelerates its offensive.
