The European Union’s (EU) top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “laughing” at President Trump’s efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the president’s push to end the conflict in Eastern Europe is “welcome,” but that the Russian leader is less likely to come to the negotiating table since he “has achieved what he wanted” during last week’s summit in Alaska with U.S. officials.
“Putin is just laughing, not stopping the killing but increasing the killing,” Kallas said during her interview on BBC Radio 4.
Kallas said it is “clear” the Kremlin does not want to get to a peace deal, and added that “any promises that Putin has given so far, he hasn’t kept.”
Trump met with Putin last week in Anchorage, Alaska, where the two delegations discussed a potential peace agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war that has been raging since February 2022.
Earlier this week, Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and seven European leaders at the White House. Trump also called Putin on the phone Monday, trying to advance the peace talks and push for a bilateral meeting between the Russian leader and Ukraine’s president.
Moscow is not prepared to agree to a huddle between Putin and Zelensky, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda is ready for a summit, and this agenda is not ready at all,” the Russian top diplomat said to NBC News.
Russia has demanded Ukraine not be allowed to join NATO and that Kyiv cede some territory the Kremlin’s military has conquered as part of any peace agreement. Ukraine has rejected both demands, with Zelensky insisting Kyiv needs security guarantees that would prevent another incursion by Moscow.
Lavrov previously questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy and called the security guarantees’ inclusion as part of a potential peace agreement “hopeless.”
Zelensky met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Friday. They discussed “what next joint steps of ours can provide Ukraine and all of Europe with greater security and bring the real end of the war closer.”
Kallas contended Friday that it was “clear before the meeting that he [Putin] wants the picture, but he got so much more. He got such a welcoming in America.”
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Comments