Brussels, Dec 15 (EFE).- The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, acknowledged on Monday the difficulties in reaching an agreement to use frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine, due to Belgium’s veto and seconded by other member states.
“I really do hope that we will achieve results on Thursday, but right now I am optimistic, by nature, but I am also seeing how difficult it is, so I do not want to give any estimates, saying that the work is ongoing,” Kallas said at a press conference following a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
The ministers discussed the situation with their Ukrainian counterpart, Andriy Sibiga, while the leaders of the EU-27 prepare to debate at their Thursday and Friday summit the possibility of investing those assets in a loan for Ukraine if Russia does not pay for the damage caused in the war.
Kallas admitted that talks on “reparation loans” are “very hard, very difficult.”
”Today we also heard Belgium’s worries, and I think everybody around the table understands Belgium’s worries and is willing to share those burdens,” she said, referring to the country where most of the Russian assets frozen by European sanctions are deposited.
Since Friday, Malta, Bulgaria, and Italy have joined Belgium in opposing a decision that must ultimately be taken by a qualified majority.
”If we go further with the reparations loan, then actually the pressure would be off Belgium, and we will share the burden and risk with all the Member States, because then it is a European proposal, and it is Europe that is responsible, not Belgium,” Kallas explained.
The Estonian politician recalled that the EU has been “exploring the different options for at least the three last years already to find funding for Ukraine to defend itself, and we have come to the place where this reparations loan is the most viable option.”
”It is clear that it could be really a game changer for this war, because it shows to Russia that it cannot outlast, and it also gives very clear signals that they have to really bear the burden of these damages that they have caused to Ukraine,” she added.
As the United States continues its contacts with Russia and Ukraine for peace, the head of EU diplomacy expressed her confidence that “we expect also pressure to be put on Russia, because, again, we do not see them coming to the negotiation table and really negotiating in good faith, or really negotiating, for that matter.”
Steve Witkoff, special envoy from the White House, and Jared Kushner, advisor and son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, were invited to speak with European ministers on Monday, but the connection failed.
“I have actually nothing much to report from the discussions with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. I don’t know if it was a cyberattack, but definitely, technology did not work correctly. So, we did not really have good discussions,” Kallas said.
Security guarantees
Kallas also referred to security guarantees for Ukraine and assured that Sibiga “gave no further explanation” about the country’s future entry into NATO, something that is provided for in its Constitution.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would like to at least leave the door open to this possibility, but in the meantime, he has accepted that this will not happen, so he would accept “Article 5-type” guarantees of mutual defense from the US, European partners, and other G7 countries, he said on Sunday.
Kallas argued that if Kyiv accepts this, “if they concede into this, then first we need to really – by all Member States and all countries, also Americans – give them very, very strong, tangible security guarantees, not only on paper, but really tangible, like, how many troops on the ground, how much capabilities, because then this is the only thing that really protects them.”
”In the end, it is up to Ukrainians to decide what they are willing to give up to have peace and for the Ukrainian people,” she added.
On Ukraine’s accession to the EU, she insisted that it will be “based on merit” and that the decision is in the hands of the member states, hinting that the US could be “pressuring” for such an outcome.
In Kallas’ opinion, “the concessions that we have heard, or the points we have heard are extremely difficult. And to me, actually, they illustrate the Russian negotiation tactic,” she concluded. EFE
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