Kallas warns Europe against falling into Russia's trap in Ukraine peace talks
Photo: Kaja Kallas (Getty Images)
Russia is trying to impose a debate on its own security on Europe to divert attention from its aggression against Ukraine, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said ahead of the meeting of EU leaders in Dublin on November 13.
According to her, Moscow seeks to shift the focus of future negotiations from the war against Ukraine to European security issues, presenting Russia as a party that supposedly needs additional guarantees.
Focusing on Russia's demands regarding Europe's security architecture risks diverting attention from a ceasefire and falling into Moscow's trap. As long as Russia sticks to its maximalist demands, Europe must stick to its own, Kallas said.
She urged partners not to lose sight of the main cause of the war and not to allow the Kremlin to change the agenda of the negotiations.
There's one aggressor and one victim, and the aggressor has nothing to worry about regarding its security, the EU's top diplomat stressed.
Kallas emphasized that Europeans must be present at the negotiations not just to be there, but also to influence the outcome.
Earlier, media outlets reported that Russia is once again demanding that NATO withdraw its troops to the positions the Alliance held in 1997. All this is happening as part of demands to revise the entire European security framework.
Bild also reported that, to end the war in Ukraine, Russia is demanding that Finland leave NATO and that the Alliance refrain from deploying bases in the Baltic states. However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denied the report and claimed that no such conditions had been put forward.
He had previously made it clear publicly that Russia wants NATO to formally enshrine its position on the Alliance's non-expansion to the East.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the formation of Europe's future security architecture directly depends on when and how Russia's war against Ukraine ends. He stressed that Ukraine is already the continent's defensive line.
