By the end of the month, EU foreign ministers will discuss what concessions can be expected from Russia in order to achieve peace in Ukraine, announced the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaia Kallas, BTA reports.
According to her, Russian President Vladimir Putin can immediately end the war if he stops the shelling and withdraws his troops from Ukraine. Kallas pointed out that his statements about a possible end to the conflict show that he is not in a strong position.
“We need to see concessions from the Russian side and make sure that it is not just a matter of a ceasefire and time for the regrouping of Russian forces“, she said at a press conference after a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels. According to her, at the end of May, specific steps expected from Moscow will be discussed.
Kallas added that Russia is preparing for a long-term confrontation with the West, and the Russian economy is currently focused mainly on the production of tanks and missiles. “Whether Putin will try to test European defense depends on us. "Constraint works, weakness acts as an invitation to aggression," she said, calling for additional sanctions against Russia.
According to her, Europe still does not produce enough weapons and it is necessary to make defense innovation a political priority and military production more efficient and cheaper.
Commenting on the situation around Iran, Kallas expressed support for diplomatic efforts to find a way out of the crisis. She defined the Strait of Hormuz as a "gray zone" between war and peace and stressed that the closure of key sea routes cannot continue.