EU High Representative Kaja Kallas signaled on Thursday that Brussels would not accept any peace initiative negotiated without Kyiv’s knowledge, as reports circulate of a secret 28-point proposal being drafted between Washington and Moscow.
Speaking ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Kallas said ministers would discuss “the latest news” related to Ukraine – widely understood to refer to media reporting that US and Russian envoys have been working on a draft plan without Kyiv or Europe at the table, according to Interfax Ukraine.
Other rumors on Wednesday suggested that Washington had asked President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider a peace proposal that would require Ukraine to relinquish some territory, surrender certain weapons and reduce the size of its armed forces – a development that has further sharpened European unease.
“We have always supported a lasting and just peace, and we welcome any efforts to achieve it,” Kallas said. “But for any plan to work, Ukrainians and Europeans are needed.”
Kallas said the fundamentals of the war have not changed, despite renewed diplomatic activity.
“In this war there is one aggressor and one victim,” she said, adding that Russia’s current behavior offers no indication it is seeking peace.
She noted ongoing overnight strikes and pointed out that 93% of Russian targets in recent attacks were civilian sites such as “schools, hospitals, apartment buildings” intended “to kill as many people and cause as much suffering as possible.”
“If Russia really wanted peace, it could have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire some time ago,” she added.
“Fair and lasting” peace agreed by Kyiv
Kallas said Europe will not support a deal imposed from the outside.
“To end this war, Ukrainians and Europeans must agree to any plan,” she said, adding that Moscow could end hostilities immediately by stopping attacks on civilians, but “we have not seen that happen.”
“We welcome all substantial efforts to end this war,” she said, “but it must be fair and lasting.”
Rumored US-Russia back-channel plan
Kallas’s comments came one day after rumors that both Trump-aligned envoys and high-level Russian officials have been engaged in drafting a 28-point framework intended to reshape peace terms in Ukraine, European security, and future US-Russia relations.
According to reports citing unnamed officials, Ukrainian and European officials were only recently briefed and have not been involved in the drafting process.
A Ukrainian official told Axios: “We know the Americans are working on something.”Meanwhile, a senior Russian figure claimed the plan was promising because “the Russian position is really being heard.”
European diplomats have privately expressed concern that any deal negotiated bilaterally between Washington and Moscow risks sidelining the states most affected – including Ukraine and EU members on NATO’s eastern flank.
Without naming the plan directly, Kallas made clear that Europe will not accept an agreement that reflects only US-Russian priorities. “Ukrainians, as well as Europeans, must agree,” she said.