Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas has called for unconditional ceasefire as a first stop for ending the war in Ukraine which she said must be the first step to ending the war.
She made a remark at a press conference, following a meeting with EU foreign ministers on Wednesday.
Kallas stressed that EU sees “zero indications” that Russia is ready to accept the peace deal. “Russia is not winding down its military machine but ramping it up. We still need to get from a situation where Russia pretends to negotiate to a situation where they need to negotiate,” the official said. Kallas explained that the threat posed by Russia “extends beyond Russia”, which is the reason why Europe must be involved in decisions to end the war. “That is also why decisions concerning the EU and NATO can be made only by the members of the European Union and NATO, and nobody else,” Kallas said.
Furthermore, the EU official voiced support to provide Ukraine with €140 billion worth EU reparation loans backed by frozen Russian assets. She described the loan as the “most clear-cut” way for the EU to fulfil its commitment to financially support Ukraine through 2027.
“It would send the strongest message to Moscow that it cannot wait us out, and we need to make this decision fast,” she explained. It should be noted that majority of Russia’s frozen assets are held by Belgian bank Euroclear.
