The head of European Union diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said on Monday that this week could be crucial for efforts to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine. According to her, the EU does not know the results of Sunday’s negotiations between representatives of the United States and Ukraine in Florida, but on Monday she plans to hold discussions with Ukrainian ministers. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
In short:
- The head of EU diplomacy talked about the possibility of ending the war
- Negotiations between the US and Ukraine have been productive and demanding
- A meeting of the American envoy with Putin is planned for Tuesday
- The EU plans financial aid to Ukraine from frozen assets
“It can be an important week for diplomacy. Yesterday we heard that the talks in America were difficult but productive. We do not yet know their results, but today I will speak with the Minister of Defense of Ukraine (Denys Shmyhaľ) as well as with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (Andrij Sybih),” said Kallasová at a meeting of defense ministers of the EU member states.
Tense negotiations in Florida
After his team’s talks with Ukrainian officials in Florida on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said there was a “good chance” of reaching an agreement to end the war between Ukraine and Russia. The head of US diplomacy, Marco Rubio, described the negotiations as productive, but emphasized that there is still a lot of work to be done before reaching a peace agreement with Russia. The Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, who led the delegation of Kyiv, called the negotiations in Florida productive and successful.
The mentioned negotiations took place a week after representatives of Ukraine, European states and the US met in Geneva, Switzerland, and the result of these negotiations, according to a joint statement, was the development of an updated version of the peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. According to the media, the original version of the American peace plan met several of Moscow’s demands.
Visit to Moscow
Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Russia on Monday, where he will meet with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday afternoon.
According to AFP, Kallas avoided answering the question of whether she trusts the US to be able to reach a good agreement. Instead, she said it would be better if European states were part of diplomatic efforts regarding Ukraine. “The Ukrainians are there alone. If they were there together with the Europeans, they would certainly be stronger. But I believe that the Ukrainians will stand up for themselves,” she said.
Financial aid to Ukraine
AFP reminds that in the past period the EU has been dealing with a plan to provide Ukraine with a loan from frozen Russian assets, but Belgium, where the money is stored, does not agree with this proposal. Kallas added that the EU is determined to achieve a result for the financing of Ukraine at the upcoming December summit, while announcing that the representatives will not leave without an agreement.
