Kallas believes she could represent Europe in talks with Russia on war in Ukraine

Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, has suggested that she could represent Europe in negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine.

Source: Kallas at the European Political Community summit, as quoted by European Pravda

Details: Kallas indicated that she could be part of a group of European negotiators, pointing out that EU leaders discussed the matter in 2024 when the current top officials were appointed.

"When it comes to European security, then the treaties are very very concrete. It is Antonio Costa and it is the high representative and vice president [i.e. Kallas herself – ed.] who is representing Europe in security matters," Kallas said.

However, she acknowledged that EU leaders could now make a different choice and reopen discussions about potential candidates, noting that such negotiations are always difficult.

Asked whether she was concerned that Russia might oppose her candidacy, Kallas, who is known for her tough stance on Russia, said that Russia's objections should not be Europe's problem.

She said: "Why would it be our issue what the Russians are saying about our representatives? Are we saying anything about their representatives who should represent them? I mean, everybody should be able to choose their own representatives."

Separately, Kallas noted that a European security architecture already exists and is enshrined in several international agreements, but Russia does not comply with them.

Quote: "What I want to stress is that we already have a European security architecture in place. It has been written in several documents: if you think about the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Agreement, the Budapest Memorandum, where Russia has also agreed to the European security architecture. The problem just is that Russia is not keeping to those agreements. So right now the focus should be on how we make sure that Russia actually keeps to their obligations."

Background:

• Estonia believes that European Council President António Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas could represent Europe in the negotiations aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
• Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, however, believes that Europe does not necessarily need a single representative in the potential negotiations with Russia.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said the most important thing is not who represents Europe, but whether Russia will agree to Europeans having a seat at the negotiating table.

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