EU's Kallas Sees No Russian Goodwill, Insists Ceasefire Must Come First

Kaja Kallas, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said Thursday that Brussels sees no "any goodwill" coming from Moscow. Her remarks landed days after Russia, Ukraine and the United States sat down together in a trilateral meeting earlier this week.

Kallas laid out the EU's preferred order of events: a ceasefire agreement first, a peace settlement after that, and only then any discussion of Europe's security architecture — the issue she said Russia treats as central.

On that architecture, Kallas argued the frameworks are already on the books. In her telling, the problem isn't a missing structure but Russia failing to stick to the ones that exist.

Turning to the UK, Kallas said she would "very much like to see" Britain return to the EU. She also acknowledged lingering Brexit "trauma" among EU officials, which she said makes any comeback harder to pull off.

That doesn't mean nothing can move in the meantime. Kallas said both sides can take "little steps" to deepen ties, pointing to the economy and security as the areas where cooperation could grow.