The provision of a 90 billion euro loan for Ukraine, record Russian losses on the battlefield, Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory, the modest military parade in Moscow - all this shows that the dynamics of the war are changing. Ukraine is in a much better position than a year ago, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is not that strong. This was said by the EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Kaia Kallas at a press conference after the end of today's meeting of European foreign ministers in Brussels, BTA reports.
We are assessing what Putin's words might mean, they sound different from his previous statements, Kaia Kallas pointed out in response to a question related to the Russian leader's comment that the war in Ukraine is coming to an end. The general understanding is that Putin has never been in a weaker position before, said Kallas. Russians see that they are making many sacrifices, discontent in Russian society is growing, internet restrictions are having an impact. Support for the war is decreasing. Everything indicates that Putin is not that strong. We have not reached the point where the Russians will negotiate in good faith, so we must continue our work, she said.
Kallas called for negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU to start by the summer. Our message to Putin is clear - the European future of Ukraine is more important to us than the destruction of Ukraine is important to Russia, she said. The EU has always supported efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace. In order to have a more active European role, we need to agree among ourselves what to talk about with Russia and what our red lines are, explained Kallas.