EASTORA REPORT | On the eve of peace talks in Abu Dhabi, the European Union’s foreign policy chief says Russia has given her little reason to expect progress. Kaja Kallas pointed to Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure as evidence that Moscow is not negotiating in good faith.
“I don’t have very high expectations regarding these talks,” Kallas told reporters in Paris on Monday, November 9, during a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting. She called for a ceasefire and an end to strikes on civilian areas. In a separate Reuters interview, she said: “They are bombing Kyiv, they are bombing civilians.”
Ukraine, Russia and the United States are due to meet in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, November 10. European, NATO and European Commission officials are also expected in the UAE. The talks come as Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure raise concerns about power supplies before winter. Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians.
Kallas also challenged the idea that Europe needs a new security arrangement with Russia. By her count, Moscow has accepted obligations to respect borders and sovereignty in at least 30 international agreements, yet failed to honor them. She cited the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, under which Russia and other powers gave Ukraine security assurances as Kyiv relinquished the nuclear weapons it inherited from the Soviet Union.
For Kallas, the question is not how to write another agreement but how to make Russia comply with those already signed. She insisted that the EU must take part in decisions affecting European security, rather than leave them to negotiations between Washington and Moscow.
She also wants more pressure on Russia. The EU is discussing its 22nd sanctions package, and Kallas said joint action with the United States could have greater impact. Asked about Republican losses in the November 3 U.S. midterms, she said it was too early to know whether Washington’s policy would change.
The Abu Dhabi meeting has not begun, and Kallas did not predict its outcome. Her test for progress is whether Russian attacks stop and Moscow begins honoring the commitments it has already made.