Russia must make significant concessions to achieve peace in Ukraine, Kallas says
Photo: Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (Getty Images)
The head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, stated that Russia must make concessions to achieve a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine, Politico informs.
"In any peace agreement, we have to put the focus on how to get concessions from the Russian side, that they stop aggression for good and do not try to change borders by force," she emphasized.
Kallas reminded that in this war "there is one aggressor and one victim." According to her, attention should be focused on "what Russia, the aggressor, must do, not on what Ukraine, the victim, must sacrifice."
The EU’s top diplomat noted that the US draft peace plan does not include concessions from the aggressor country. In her view, the agreement should impose obligations on Russia, including limits on the size of its military and defense spending.
"If you spend close to 40 percent (of total government spending - ed.) on your military, you will want to use it again, and that is a threat to us all," Kallas stressed.
She added that if "aggression pays off," it encourages Russia to repeat it, including in other regions.
Kallas also recalled the significant impact of sanctions on Russia’s economy and its failures on the battlefield. In her opinion, Russian President Vladimir Putin cannot achieve his goals on the battlefield and will therefore try to pursue them through negotiations.
US peace plan
The US previously prepared a peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, which envisaged Kyiv agreeing to a number of concessions. Western media reported that it was based on a Russian document.
Under the plan, Ukraine would have to withdraw its troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and effectively "hand them over" to Russia.
