Proposed Ukraine land concessions are Putin's trap, EU's top diplomat tells BBC
The European Union’s top diplomat has warned against pressuring Ukraine to give up territory to Russia as part of any future peace agreement.
In her first UK interview since EU leaders joined peace negotiations at the White House, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told the BBC that allowing Moscow to retain occupied Ukrainian land would be “a trap that Putin wants us to walk into.”
Russia has long disputed the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where years of fighting have forced 1.5 million people to flee. Kyiv has consistently rejected suggestions of trading land for peace, even as former US President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of territorial “swaps” to secure a settlement.
Kallas – who is on the Kremlin’s wanted list – said Ukraine’s security must be built on “true and robust guarantees,” not just promises on paper. “The best security guarantee is a strong Ukrainian army,” she said, adding that EU member states were still debating what practical form any international security force could take.
Last week, leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Finland and other EU nations joined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks in Washington, just days after Trump hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military base in Alaska.
Kallas said the Alaska meeting handed Moscow a propaganda victory. “Putin got everything he wanted – a warm reception and no punishment. He is laughing, not stopping the killing but increasing it. Russia has not made a single concession,” she said.
She confirmed the EU is preparing its 19th package of sanctions to increase pressure on the Kremlin.
Meanwhile, Trump has set a two-week deadline to assess whether peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are viable. Speaking to conservative broadcaster Newsmax, he said: “We’re going to know one way or the other in two weeks. After that, we’ll have to take a different tactic.”
President Zelensky, however, expressed scepticism about Moscow’s willingness to engage. He accused Russia of deliberately avoiding efforts to schedule a face-to-face meeting, telling reporters: “They don’t want to end this war.”
He also pressed Western allies to clarify their commitments, saying Ukraine needed a “clear understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to ten days. We need to know which country is going to do what at any given moment.”
On Thursday morning, Russia launched a large-scale air attack across Ukraine. In the western city of Lviv, near the Polish border, at least eleven sites were hit, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen.
European leaders have voiced growing doubts about Putin’s sincerity. Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the Russian leader could “rarely be trusted,” while French President Emmanuel Macron described him as “a predator and an ogre at our doorstep,” casting doubt on his commitment to peace.
Zelensky has reiterated his readiness to hold talks with Putin “in any format,” but said there was still no sign from Moscow that it intends to engage in meaningful discussions.
