European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pitched herself on Friday as the bloc's envoy for future peace talks on Ukraine, telling reporters at an informal EU summit in Dublin that Moscow's opposition to her should not decide who represents Europe.
"I know that the Russians don't want me, but do we have a say in who is representing Russia? No, we don't," Kallas said as she arrived at the summit. "They don't want anybody strong on the other side because they want to push through their maximum demands, like they have always done."
Kallas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, argued it is incumbent on her to take on the role, noting that EU leaders agreed in June 2024 that she represents the bloc on foreign and security policy. "I am representing 27, as I have done already for two years," she said.
She also warned European leaders against falling into what she called Russia's "traps" over the sequencing of any talks. A ceasefire must come first, she said, then a peace deal, and only then any discussion of the broader European security architecture Moscow wants to renegotiate. Starting with Russia's security demands, she argued, would divert attention from the fact that there is no ceasefire and put Europe in a worse position.
The question of who speaks for Europe has become urgent after U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner said on Thursday, following talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, that Europe would join future negotiations. The Kremlin on Friday appeared to slow that plan down, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Europe must first show it is ready to contribute to the peace process and that no decision had been taken. Russia says it wants a full peace settlement, not a ceasefire.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen insisted it was "self-explanatory that Europe is included in the peace talks to safeguard our interests, but also to support Ukraine." EU leaders in Dublin were expected to discuss both who should represent the bloc and with what mandate, after U.S.-mediated talks in Abu Dhabi this week ended with a large prisoner exchange but no major breakthrough.
