EU's Kallas says pressuring Ukraine to surrender is wrong approach to ending war

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Thursday said pressuring Ukraine to surrender is not the right approach to ending the war with Russia, stressing that pressure should instead be directed at Moscow.

Speaking ahead of a European Council summit in Brussels, Kallas underlined the EU's commitment to supporting Kyiv, arguing that pressure should be directed at Russia rather than Ukraine to end the war.

Asked about the new US agreement with Russia greenlighting diesel fuel sales by Moscow, Kallas said: "We definitely have a different approach to this war. We see that we have to pressure the aggressor to stop the war, not the victim to surrender. "

"Squeezing Ukraine is not the right approach, and that's why Europe is standing by Ukraine," she said.

Kallas said the EU remains committed to maintaining pressure on Russia through sanctions, noting that the bloc is working on its 22nd sanctions package.

She also stressed that decisions concerning frozen Russian assets and the possible lifting of sanctions rests with European countries.

Turning to the broader agenda of the European Council summit, she said EU leaders would discuss competitiveness, energy, economic imbalances, enlargement, and developments in the Middle East.

On the Middle East, Kallas reiterated the EU's role as a security provider in the region and called on member states to deploy additional ships to Operation Aspides, the bloc's naval mission in the Red Sea, to strengthen the escort for commercial vessels through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.

Kallas also said EU foreign ministers had decided to open up a new mission for Lebanon, while questions remain about security arrangements in southern Lebanon following the end of the mandate for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

On EU enlargement, the bloc’s foreign policy chief warned against bilateralizing the process, arguing that European countries need to work together to strengthen the continent, saying that doing so is “really important.”