Kallas: Pressure on Ukraine to make concessions is excessive; Russia must bear responsibility
Ukraine is showing its willingness to make concessions to end the war, but the pressure being exerted on it in this regard is excessive and could lead to "very difficult decisions." This was stated by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, during a speech at a security conference in Oslo, according to The Guardian.
According to Kallas, there is a risk of losing sight of the root cause of the war. She stressed that we must not forget that it was Russia that launched a full-scale aggression against Ukraine.
"The problem is that Ukrainians are under a lot of pressure to agree to very difficult concessions. Because of this, we risk blurring the picture of where the root of the problem really lies," the European diplomat said.
Kallas also drew attention to the historical context, emphasising that over the last 100 years, Russia has attacked at least 19 countries, some of them several times, and none of them had committed any aggression against the Russian Federation.
In her opinion, it is Europe that should insist on concessions from the Russian Federation. Among the key demands, she named limiting the size of the Russian armed forces, conventional and nuclear weapons, as well as holding Moscow accountable for war crimes.
Separately, Kaja Kallas noted that the Russian side is trying to focus the negotiations exclusively on contacts with the United States, avoiding difficult conversations. According to her, the Kremlin expects that dialogue with Washington will help promote maximalist demands that Russia has been unable to achieve by military means.
In this context, Callas stressed that the European Union has a "clear and responsible role" in thoroughly reviewing any potential future peace agreement so that it does not undermine the security of Ukraine and Europe as a whole.
Kaja Kallas, European Union, Ukraine's concessions, war with Russia, peace talks
