Vladimir Putin is “presenting demands that are ultimate goals,” Kaja Kallas said on Monday in reaction to the Russian leader’s pre-conditions to accept the American proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.
Russia does not want peace in Ukraine and cannot be trusted to advance such a goal, High Representative Kaja Kallas warned on the eve of a new phone call between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, which Europe is certain to follow with great attention.
Russia “will seize this opportunity to present all kinds of demands and what we already see is that they’re presenting demands that are ultimate goals,” Kallas said on Monday afternoon after a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.
Her comments are a reaction to Putin’s non-committal answer to the White House’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, which Kyiv has already accepted. The Russian leader has pointedly asked for certain “nuances” to be clarified, including whether Western supplies of weapons and ammunition would continue.
“So during these 30 days will (…) mobilisation continue in Ukraine? Will weapons be supplied there? Are these 30 days needed for the newly mobilised units to be trained? Or will none of that happen?” he asked last week in a press conference.
Putin also spoke of a solution to address what he called the “root causes” of the war, a term he often employs to demand the demilitarisation of Ukraine and a commitment to neutrality, both of which Kyiv adamantly rejects.
“The ball is in Russia’s court,” Kallas said on Monday.
“What we see right now is that Russia doesn’t really want peace. (There) was understanding around the table that Russia cannot really be trusted.”
Asked if Europe would be invited to the US-led talks, Kallas said: “As we see, there is no negotiating table because Russia is not coming to the negotiating table.”
Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania’s foreign affairs minister, who attended Monday’s meeting, said the burden of concessions should be put on the aggressor.
“We require from Ukraine an unconditional position when we see so many conditions from Putin’s side, and we see the real intent,” Budrys said upon arrival.
“There is no place for peace in Putin’s imperialist plan, that’s obvious and these actions show more than the words for themselves.”
His Finnish counterpart, Elina Valtonen, voiced a similar message. “The genuine effort by President Trump to achieve peace should not be misused by Putin to further weaken Ukraine and come back with the aggression at some point in the near future,” she said.
The scepticism is shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has described Putin’s pre-conditions as “very predictable and “very manipulative”.
Zelenskyy pointed to the reports of Russian military build-up along the border with the Summy region, in the northeast of Ukraine, as “clear” evidence that Putin is intent on “ignoring diplomacy” and “prolonging the war”.
“This indicates an intention to attack,” Zelenskyy said over the weekend.
ADVERTISEMENTTrump, by contrast, appeared more optimistic as he announced his intention to hold a phone call with Putin on Tuesday, which the Kremlin has confirmed.
“We will be talking about land. We will be talking about power plants,” Trump said on Sunday, adding that negotiators had already discussed “dividing up certain assets”.
“I think we have a good chance,” he added.
It’s fair to say Brussels will keep a close eye on the outcome of the Trump-Putin call.
ADVERTISEMENTThe last time both men spoke, on 12 February, they agreed to “immediately” launch negotiations to end the war, catching all Western allies by complete surprise.
The conversation effectively dismantled three years of unified transatlantic resolve to isolate the Kremlin and sent Europeans scrambling to reassert their standing in the fast-moving diplomacy. Since then, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have taken the lead in establishing a coalition of the willing to safeguard a potential settlement on Ukrainian soil and airspace.
The coalition is expected to gather “more than 30 countries”, according to Starmer’s office. “It involves more than sending troops, and will involve contributing in other ways,” Starmer’s spokesperson said on Monday, without naming the nations.
Kallas herself has pitched a plan to form another coalition of the willing to mobilise up to €40 billion in fresh military aid for Ukraine in the short term. The initiative would entail voluntary contributions to bypass Hungary’s (and possibly Slovakia’s) veto and be open to pledges from non-EU countries, such as the UK and Norway.
ADVERTISEMENTSpeaking to reporters, Kallas said there was “broad political support” for her project but cautioned more technical work was required before it could be finalised.
“Right now, the discussion is in the details,” Kallas said. “Hopefully we will be able to really move on because everybody understood, around the table, that we should show our resolve right now and support Ukraine so that they can defend themselves.”
The Kallas initiative is set to be debated by EU leaders during a summit on Thursday.
