Kallas: Putin Has No Veto Over Europe's Security

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, has said Russian President Vladimir Putin must not have a veto on matters concerning European security. She wrote this on social media and set out the position on 6 November in Warsaw at a joint press conference with Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. The issue matters because the conditions of a possible peace deal ending the war in Ukraine are under discussion.

Kallas's main position

On social media, Kallas wrote that any agreement to end the war must prevent Russia from rearming and attacking again.

She stressed that the EU must be involved in any negotiations on a peace settlement. According to Kallas, implementing such a deal would affect European sanctions, security guarantees, Ukraine's reconstruction and its accession to the EU.

Demands on Moscow

Kallas said she presented EU foreign ministers earlier this year with a document setting out the main demands to Moscow. In her view, it should serve as the basis for future talks.

The demands include:

• refusing to legally recognise Russian claims to occupied Ukrainian territories;
• Russia's responsibility for war crimes and the damage caused;
• respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and its right to choose its own alliances.

Kallas also stressed that concessions must come from the aggressor, not the victim.