EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas called for ramping up pressure on Russia to improve the odds of the current US initiative to end the war in Ukraine.
“To secure the best outcome for Ukraine and Europe, we need to move faster. That means more sanctions to deprive Russia of the means to wage war, and more military and financial support for Ukraine,” Kallas said after a videoconference with EU foreign ministers and their Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiha on Thursday, November 27.
Kallas said there are no signs Russia is ready for a ceasefire. “But we are getting closer to putting Russia in a position where it will truly have to negotiate,” she noted.
In her view, “Russia’s summer offensive has failed, and US and EU sanctions are showing a major impact,” leaving Moscow “losing money and soldiers.” If the Kremlin could achieve its aims by force, “it would have done so long ago,” she said. Because President Vladimir Putin cannot get what he wants on the battlefield, “he will now try to reach his goals at the negotiating table,” she added.
With work on the American peace plan ongoing, Kallas urged providing Ukraine with the maximum possible support.
“There are few conflicts in the world where the situation is this clear,” the EU’s top diplomat said. “There is an aggressor and there is a victim, and the focus must be on what the aggressor—Russia—must do, not on what the victim – Ukraine - should concede.”
On frozen Russian assets in the EU, Kallas pressed for a swift decision. She said a so-called “reparations loan” is the clearest way to cover Ukraine’s financing needs in 2026 and 2027 - and would send Moscow a clear signal that running out the clock won’t work.
