CEASEFIRE?
Zelenskyy on Friday appeared to start staking out his place forward of any potential peace talks.
He known as on NATO to supply assured protections to elements of Ukraine managed by Kyiv to be able to “cease the recent stage of the battle”, and implied he would then be keen to attend to regain different territory seized by Russia.
“If we could have a frozen battle with none robust place for Ukraine, Putin will come again in two, three or 5 years,” Zelenskyy mentioned on Sunday.
Kallas advised journalists on the journey into Ukraine that for Kyiv “the strongest safety assure is NATO membership”.
“We have to positively talk about this – if Ukraine decides to attract the road someplace then how can we safe peace in order that Putin would not go any additional,” she mentioned.
However diplomats at NATO say there seems little prospect of the alliance granting Ukraine membership quickly given opposition from a raft of members cautious of getting dragged into battle with Russia.
Zelenskyy insisted Kyiv was not “delusional” about its prospects with NATO and admitted there was deep reluctance from US President Joe Biden, together with leaders in international locations similar to Hungary.
“TRANSACTIONAL LANGUAGE”
Kallas mentioned the EU “should not actually rule out something” by way of the query of sending European troops to assist implement any ceasefire.
“We should always have this strategic ambiguity round this,” she mentioned.
Trump has forged doubt on persevering with Washington’s huge assist for Ukraine and known as on EU international locations to do extra.
Europe collectively has spent round US$125 billion on supporting Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, whereas the USA alone has coughed up over US$90 billion, based on a tracker from the Kiel Institute.
Kallas mentioned the EU would use “transactional language” to attempt to persuade Trump that backing Kyiv was within the curiosity of the US.
“Support for Ukraine is just not charity,” she mentioned. “A victory for Russia positively emboldens China, Iran, North Korea.”