EU's Kallas Warns Russia Is Laying Traps in Ukraine Peace Talks

Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, urged leaders not to walk "into the traps that Russia is setting" as she arrived at an EU summit in Dublin. Moscow, she said, wants to open a debate about European security architecture to pull attention away from its own aggression. "We have one aggressor and one victim, and the aggressor does not have security concerns," she said. "Nobody has ever attacked them. They have attacked others. I mean, keep the focus, people."

Russia has revived hardline demands for a total overhaul of European security — the same package rejected in 2021 as an infringement on the sovereignty of central and eastern European countries. The latest round of trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US was held this week in Abu Dhabi.

Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's envoy and son-in-law, said on Thursday night that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to widen the next round of peace negotiations to include the Europeans. Moscow contradicted him almost immediately. The Kremlin said on Friday that once it understands Europe's "real intentions and their willingness to contribute to the peace process, then we can make a decision on holding talks in an expanded format." Russia's lead negotiator in Abu Dhabi, Vladimir Medinsky, added it was "unclear what there is to discuss" with Europe.

Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, pushed back on the premise of the debate. "Russia wants to talk about questions of a European security architecture. We do not need to discuss that; it already exists," he said, calling it a "given" that Germany would sit in any European delegation. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called it "self-explanatory that Europe is included in the peace talks to safeguard our interests, but also to support Ukraine." European leaders have long backed Kyiv in any talks but want a ceasefire first, and point to the continent's web of security agreements that Russia has violated.

Washington's push to seat Europe at the table has turned the spotlight on who actually speaks for the bloc — a question the EU has not settled through more than two years of on-off talks. Paris and Berlin want their own envoys to keep a role in the E3 format of Britain, France and Germany alongside EU representatives, while smaller member states lean on European Council president António Costa and Kallas.

Sweden's prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, called the argument over representation "slightly overstated," noting European countries have differing interests. He flagged financing Kyiv and Ukraine's future EU membership as "pure EU interests," and said he was open to the "pretty uncomplicated" E3, the "very legitimate" E5 that adds Italy and Poland, and EU representatives. "What we actually say is more important than the exact configuration of the people in the room," he said. Several leaders including Kallas stressed the UK must be involved as a founder of the coalition of the willing, the group committed to future peacekeeping in Ukraine. Ireland's taoiseach, Micheál Martin, said the UK and Norway each had a significant role because this is a continent-wide issue, and Britain's prime minister said it was for the EU to decide who represents it.