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The Head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, stated that the biggest threat posed by Russia lies in the fact that it receives more at the negotiating table than it has achieved on the battlefield, UATV English reports.
Kallas said this in a speech at the Munich Security Conference.
The EU’s top diplomat noted that Russia has “barely advanced” beyond the 2014 front line at the cost of 1.2 million casualties, while Moscow is putting forward unrealistic demands at the negotiating table.
“Today Russia is broken, its economy is in ruins, it is cut off from European energy markets, and its own citizens are fleeing. In fact, the biggest threat that Russia currently poses is that it is receiving more at the negotiating table than it has achieved on the battlefield,” Kallas stated.
The Head of EU diplomacy also noted that what is important is not so much having a seat at the negotiating table as understanding what to negotiate about.
“In our view, everything is very simple: Russia’s maximalist demands cannot be satisfied with a minimalist response. Think about it: if Ukraine’s army must be limited in size, then the Russian one must be as well. Russia must pay for the damage it has caused to Ukraine,” she stated.
According to Kallas, compensation for the damage inflicted on Ukraine, the return of deported Ukrainian children, and no amnesty for war crimes are the minimum that Russia must agree to if it truly seeks peace.
And since Europe does not see readiness from the Kremlin for negotiations, it will continue rearmament, the diplomat added.
On February 10, the Head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, stated that in the coming days she will propose for discussion among EU countries a list of concessions that should be demanded from Russia within the framework of a potential agreement to end the war.
Earlier, Kallas had already warned that focusing attention on concessions by Ukraine risks blurring the lines of Russia’s responsibility for the unleashed aggression.
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