A top European Union official is warning President Donald Trump against letting Russian President Vladimir Putin succeed in dividing a decades-old alliance between the U.S. and Europe as Trump seeks to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
“It is clear that any deal on Ukraine that doesn’t involve Europe will fail,” EU policy chief Kaja Kallas told Fox News Digital from South Africa. “Europe and the U.S. are stronger together, this is exactly why Putin is trying to divide us.
“Let’s not do him the favor,” she added.
UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY SAYS TRUMP LIVES IN ‘DISINFORMATION SPACE’ AMID RIFT ON RUSSIA TALKS
Kallas’ comments came after she held a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, the U.K., Italy and Germany on Tuesday night to discuss the U.S. talks with Russian in Saudi Arabia, in which Washington agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties with Moscow through reopening embassies and re-engaging geopolitically and economically.
Concern in Europe has been mounting over the Trump administration’s push to find a solution to end the war in Ukraine, as neither Kyiv nor any European official has yet been present for the discussions.
“When they say ‘these are our plans for the end of the war,’ it raises questions for us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters from Turkey on Wednesday following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdoğan. “Where are we at this negotiating table? This war is taking place inside Ukraine. Putin is killing Ukrainians, not Americans.”
“We want a just peace, a lasting peace, a sustainable peace,” he added.
While Rubio looked to set the record straight following the talks on Tuesday by agreeing that Ukraine, Europe and Russia will need to be involved in any ceasefire terms, some comments by Trump have prompted frustration in Kyiv and concern across Europe.
“We need American strength not concessions to end this war on Ukraine’s terms,” Kallas told Fox News Digital. “Handing Ukrainian territory to Putin on a plate is a losing strategy.”
RUBIO MAKES PROGRESS WITH RUSSIA AFTER TRUMP PROMISED TO BRING END TO WAR IN UKRAINE
Kallas, along with other European leaders, took issue this week when Trump said Ukraine needs to hold presidential elections – something that Ukraine constitutionally cannot do during a state of war.
“Elections in Ukraine are impossible amid Russia’s daily attacks, which have displaced millions of Ukrainians,” Kallas said. “Let’s not forget Russia hasn’t held a free election in 25 years.”
Kallas, who told Fox News Digital that she has submitted a proposal that would see EU nations ramp up military aid to Ukraine this year, argued, “Kyiv must be able to negotiate from a place of strength.”
Reports indicated that European leaders were set to hold a second emergency summit on Ukraine in Paris on Wednesday after a smaller group of leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark and the U.K. reportedly convened on Monday following the Munich Security Conference.
Despite concerns that Putin could be dividing the West, one former DIA intelligence officer and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” Rebekah Koffler, argued the Trump administration’s strategy on ending the war is not an indication the U.S. is abandoning its allies.
“The U.S. is not turning against Europe,” she said. “NATO had 10 years, a decade to prepare for and deter this war.”
“In the course of several years, my colleagues and I briefed senior military and intelligence officials of top European nations on the Russian threat. In vain,” Koffler said, noting that she and her American intelligence colleagues warned European nations in 2013 ahead of Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014. “NATO ignored the threat for a decade and did not bother to develop a counter-strategy to Putin’s Playbook.
“Trump is handing over the responsibility for Europe’s protection to the Europeans,” she added, noting the West was already divided given some NATO nations’ failures to meet defense spending agreements.
