Ukraine must deal with Russia from a position of strength to avoid a “bad peace” because it is “much more dangerous” to show Vladimir Putin weakness than make him concessions, Estonia’s prime minister has said.
Kaja Kallas issued the warning after Henry Kissinger, the former US Secretary of State, said Ukraine should give up territory to secure a peace deal and as splits emerged between EU member states on how tough to be on Moscow.
“We must avoid a bad peace, a badly negotiated peace for Ukraine would mean a bad peace for us all,” Ms Kallas said in a speech in Stockholm, Sweden.
“It is much more dangerous giving in to Putin, than provoking him. All these seemingly small concessions to the aggressor lead to big wars. We have done this mistake already three times: Georgia, Crimea and Donbas.”
Ms Kallas was referring to Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia and its 2014 annexation of Crimea. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatists and fighting is now fierce in the Eastern region.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, was hawkish at the Davos forum on Tuesday. She said, “Ukraine must win this war, and Putin’s aggression must be a strategic failure.”
But there was fresh evidence of divisions on Ukraine between EU member states, which have struggled to agree an oil embargo against Moscow.
Italy and Hungary urged the EU to call explicitly for a ceasefire and peace talks at next week’s European Council summit. The stance puts them at odds with other member states determined to stick to a hard line such as Poland and the Baltic countries.
At a meeting of EU envoys on Friday, Italy’s ambassador proposed changes to the draft summit conclusions to call for an immediate ceasefire. That was backed by Hungary and Cyprus, who have blocked fresh EU sanctions against Moscow.
The conclusions currently state the EU is “unwavering in its commitment to help Ukraine exercise its inherent right of self-defence against the Russian aggression” and makes no reference to peace talks.
Mr Macron, who says Kyiv would negotiate on its own terms, and Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor have both called for a ceasefire.
Earlier this month, Volodymyr Zelensky said the French President asked him to make concessions to prevent Russia being humiliated by the failure of the invasion. He said Kyiv would never give up territory to Moscow to help Putin save face.
The UK inists that “Putin must fail” and that Ukraine must not be sold out in any peace talks.
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