COPENHAGEN — EU High Representative Kaja Kallas doesn’t think the meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents will actually take place this week.
Speaking at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, Kallas said that, although Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the right decision in accepting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to meet in Turkey on Thursday, it’s “a big question” whether Putin is actually willing to meet with Zelenskyy there.
“I think it’s a good move if they sit down, I think it should be between Zelenskyy and Putin, but I don’t think [Putin] dares, I guess,” Kallas said.
More than three years after the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Putin offered Zelenskyy direct talks this week “without any preconditions.” Zelenskyy called Putin’s bluff — but added that Ukraine will only accept peace talks if the Kremlin agrees to a 30-day ceasefire, a proposal the United States made two months ago.
Russia appears unlikely to accept the ceasefire, but Zelenskyy may show up for the talks anyway.
“What the Americans are trying to do is to really keep the door open, so that Russia would come to the table. That’s maybe why they haven’t put too much pressure on Russia. But now, it has been over 60 days, and we need to see some other steps, so that you would see Putin around that negotiation table,” Kallas said Tuesday.
The Estonian former prime minister also stressed that nothing should be discussed about Ukraine without Ukraine. “If we see [Russia and the U.S.] agreeing to things that are completely unacceptable for Ukraine, or for Europe for that matter, then it can’t really, really fly,” she said.
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