Kallas accuses the US of pressuring Kyiv to “surrender under Putin”

A head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, today accused the United States of pressuring Ukraine to “surrender in terms of [Vladimir] Putin” and capitulate under conditions exclusively favourable to the Russian President.

“ American negotiators have been trying to bring Ukraine to surrender for almost two years,” said Kaja Kallas, quoted by European television network Euronews, which recalls the growing tensions between the European Union (EU) and the US.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy mentioned today in Parliament European that ‘the reason Ukraine did not surrender under Putin is that Europe has supported Ukraine’.

Kallas also argued that the European presence at the negotiating table is necessary to balance the positions adopted by the White House, which have been increasingly inclined to Moscow's interests.

Euronews also recalled that relations between the US and Europe have deteriorated since US President Donald Trump signed a diesel supply agreement with Putin and relaxed sanctions until April 2027, without, on the other hand, obtaining any concession from Russia.

Trump defended the holding of new elections in Ukraine, something forbidden during the war period, and complained that the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, is “more difficult to deal with” than Putin.

Zelensky, in turn, stated that he felt betrayed by Trump.

Kallas warned of these developments in his speech in Parliament in Strasbourg, where several MEPs criticized the alleged absence of a peace strategy by Europe.

‘That is not true’, he countered Kallas, referring to a document he presented to EU Member States, containing demands that Europe should expect Moscow to comply with in a possible agreement.

“If Russia presents its maximalist demands and demands, we must put our own maximum demands on the table to balance those negotiations. In addition, a clear message needs to be sent to Russia: for all that matters to them, such as lifting sanctions, Europe needs to be at the table, since these are European decisions”, he said.

“ We are not giving up these things for free, because the goal is not only to achieve peace, but to ensure that peace is lasting and just,” he added.

Kallas also accused Russia of endangering sea safety Black through an armed blockade, using food supply as a weapon and trying to cause global hunger.

Romania and Bulgaria have recently reported attacks by Russian drones near their territorial waters.

The High Representative also criticized Moscow for refusing a truce in the energy sector and for intensifying its bombing campaign against Ukraine on the eve of winter.

Kallas has been one of the most forceful voices in Europe to criticise Trump's rapprochement with Moscow and last week denounced to Euronews that the diesel agreement represented a gift for Putin.