EU backs Ukraine's stance on peace talks with Russia

During the Thursday meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Brussels, Kaja Kallas, the head of EU diplomacy, expressed Europe's stance on potential peace negotiations regarding Ukraine. Europe is ready to support Ukraine if Kyiv decides to oppose the terms of a peace agreement that could be negotiated by Russia and the USA.

Kallas emphasized that Ukraine's membership in NATO cannot be excluded, even if discussions on the subject have not yet begun. She referred to a statement by the Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, who claimed that Ukraine's membership in the Alliance is "unrealistic." - It is exactly what they [Russia - ed.] want - Kallas remarked, adding that ruling out options before negotiations start is "playing into Russia's hands."

Kallas stressed that NATO is the best and most cost-effective security guarantee. - They [the U.S.] say that it’s not going to be NATO membership, but some other security guarantees. Then the questions need to be answered by everybody — what are these security guarantees, really? Being in NATO, where we have these structures, is actually the best security guarantee - she noted.

The head of EU diplomacy added that any peace agreement must be acceptable to both Kyiv and the European Union. - It doesn’t look good if somebody agrees on something and everybody else has to say, ‘OK, you have agreed, but we will not follow this.’ Ukrainians will resist, and we will support them - Kallas argued.