EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Friday (November 13) that Russia was trying to drag Europe into negotiations over the continent’s security architecture while sidestepping the urgent need for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
“We have an aggressor and a victim, and the aggressor has no security concerns. No one has ever attacked him. They have attacked others,” Kallas told reporters before an informal meeting of EU leaders in Dublin.
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“I mean, stay focused, people,” she added.
Kallas warned that allowing Moscow to shift the negotiating agenda toward broader security arrangements in Europe would work directly in the Kremlin’s favor, distracting from Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
“If we start talking about what Russia is asking for in terms of security architecture, we are actually falling into the traps that Russia is setting for us,” she said.
Kallas stressed that Europe must stick to the agreed sequence: first a ceasefire, then a peace deal, and only then broader discussions on the European security architecture.
“There has to be a ceasefire first,” she said, asserting that stopping the fighting would be the first test of Moscow’s true willingness to make peace.
“We are actually in a worse situation”
Kallas’ warning comes as Russia seeks to revive sweeping security demands dating back to 2021, when Moscow called for restrictions on NATO’s military presence and activities in Eastern Europe.
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As the Kyiv Post reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed these demands during his talks with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Thursday.
Putin also warned against deploying European troops to Ukraine as part of any post-war security deal.
Kallas warned that meeting Moscow’s broader demands before securing a ceasefire would weaken Europe’s negotiating position.
“We are in a good position if we respect the agreement that we insist on the ceasefire,” she said.
“If we fall into the trap that we’re talking about regarding the European security architecture, then I don’t think we’re in a better situation. We’re actually in a worse situation.”
She argued that Russia’s demands should not be accepted as a starting point without Europe presenting its own equally strong negotiating position.
“Russia presents its maximum demands, and that is why I have worked out together with the European foreign ministers also maximum European demands,” Kallas said.
“If they start from the maximum, we should also start from the maximum, so that there is a real negotiation.”
She added: “If one starts from the maximum and the other asks for nothing, we can guess where this negotiation ends. »
“I know the Russians don’t want me”
Kallas also faced the question of who should represent Europe in future negotiations with Moscow, fending off suggestions that Russian opposition could prevent her from participating.
“I know the Russians don’t want me, but, you know, do we have any say in who represents Russia? No, we don’t,” she said.
When asked why Moscow opposed its participation, particularly if its Eastern European origin was a factor, Kallas accused Russia of seeking the weakest possible negotiating partner.
“They don’t want anyone strong on the other side because they want to assert their maximum demands, as they always have,” she said.
She described a familiar Russian negotiating tactic: issuing threats and ultimatums, using force and waiting for Western governments to offer concessions.
Kallas argued that allowing the Kremlin to influence the choice of the European negotiator would cede influence to Moscow before negotiations even begin.
“It’s not their place to say,” she insisted.
“Otherwise, if we give them the right to this, we’re actually giving them leverage that they shouldn’t have.”
The dispute over Europe’s representation has intensified as Washington prepares to bring European officials into the next round of negotiations.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal had previously defended Kallas, insisting that Putin should have no say in who speaks on behalf of Europe.
Kallas affirms his mandate to represent the 27 countries of the EU
Kallas argued that EU leaders had already agreed in 2024 on the bloc’s foreign and security policy representation, providing an institutional basis for its role.
“All member states have actually agreed that I am the one representing Europe when it comes to foreign and security policy,” she said.
She acknowledged that EU leaders could change those arrangements, but argued that debating personalities risked distracting from the substance of the negotiations.
“Any division between us actually works in favor of the other side,” Kallas warned.
The EU’s foreign policy chief said she was ready to work with the bloc’s foreign ministers to establish negotiating demands, identify possible compromises and prepare a common European position.
“I’m not representing myself. I’m representing 27,” she said.
Kallas also drew a clear distinction between Europe’s institutional approach and Washington’s use of emissaries.
“We have institutions in place, so we can’t send just anyone with no institutional role, like the Americans do,” she said.
“We should not copy the same models.”
Kushner ‘finally admits’ that Europe must be at the table
Kallas welcomed US envoy Jared Kushner’s recognition of the need for European governments to participate in implementing any peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
“What we saw is that Jared Kushner finally admitted what I had already said a year and a half ago, which is that for any agreement between Russia and Ukraine, for its implementation, you also need the Europeans,” she said.
But she stressed that Europe must have more than a symbolic seat.
“I hope that we are not only at the table, but also really influencing the outcome of these negotiations. »
As the Kyiv Post reported, Kushner and Witkoff said on Thursday that European representatives would participate in the next round of US-mediated talks after their meeting with Putin.
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