Pressure Russia, EU diplomat says

Ukraine is not the problem, declares the official, who’s making list of terms for Putin.

- By Lorne Cook

"EVERYBODY wants this war to stop, except the Russians," Kaja Kallas says.

(GEERT VANDEN WIJNGAERT Associated Press)

Top European Union diplomat Kaja Kallas said Tuesday that she is drafting a list of concessions that she believes Russia must make to secure any long-term peace in Ukraine as U.S.-run talks to end four years of war show little sign of progress.

Russian forces used cluster munitions in an attack on a market in Ukraine killing seven as envoys from Moscow and Kyiv met in Abu Dhabi last week for another round of U.S.-brokered talks. No breakthrough was made, although a new prisoner swap was agreed to.

After saying in 2024 that he could end the war in a day, then 100 days, President Trump has now given Ukraine and Russia until June to come to an agreement.

The EU is convinced that Russia is not negotiating seriously and it doubts that European and Ukrainian interests are being represented by the Trump administration, so work has begun on “a sustainable peace plan” that might force Moscow's hand.