EU says Russia can't decide Europe's envoy for Ukraine talks: ‘They don’t want anybody strong’

Detailed summary

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said EU could not just send any person for the role, adding that there were institutions in place for the decision. | World News

European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Friday claimed that Russia did not want a “strong” European voice at the negotiating table with Ukraine, but asserted that Moscow had no say in deciding who represents Europe in peace talks to end the Ukraine war.

“They don't want anybody strong on the other side because they want to push through their maximum demands,” Kallas told reporters after arriving at EU summit talks in Dublin, AFP reported.

Kallas said she knew Russia did not want her at the table, but added that she spoke on behalf of all 27 member states rather than in a personal capacity, news agency Reuters reported. She said EU could not just send any person for the role, adding that there were institutions in place for the same.

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The Kremlin had on Friday said Europe must show it is ready to contribute to the Ukraine peace process before a decision is made on letting them join. “Once we understand their genuine intention and readiness to contribute to the peace process, then it will be possible to make a decision on holding dialogue on a Ukrainian settlement in an expanded format,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to news agency Reuters.

This comes a day after US envoy Steve Witkoff said Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks. This was announced by Witkoff after two days of trilateral talks involving Russia, Ukraine and US this week in Abu Dhabi. These meetings were the first direct US-mediated negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in nine months.

Kallas warned Friday that Europe must not walk into Russian “traps” as it takes a seat at the table in talks to end the Ukraine war.

“First we need a ceasefire. If we start to talk about what Russia is asking regarding the security architecture, we actually walk into the traps that Russia is setting us, which is that we divert the attention away…

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