Leaked information about a new Russian-American peace plan for Ukraine was a given topic of conversation when the foreign ministers of the EU countries met in Brussels on Thursday.
Foreign Minister Kallas does not seem to be too stressed about renewed demands from Moscow regarding Ukrainian land cessions and reduced defense.
"Our position has not changed: if any peace plan is to work, it must be supported by Ukraine and by Europe. The ministers were quite calm: we have seen this before," Kallas said at his press conference after the meeting.
Promise of coordination
Several ministers are repeating the words that Ukraine must be allowed to discuss its own fate. Germany's Johann Wadephul has already pressed for Europe not to be forgotten by the US, during telephone discussions in connection with Thursday's meeting.
"Both colleagues underlined the importance of close coordination with Germany and our European partners," a German press release said after talks with US envoy Steven Witkoff and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Many within the EU emphasize at the same time that the leaked data so far needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.
We need to find out whether it is really the big boys who are behind this plan or not, says Danish Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
Reduced defense?
Among the more eye-catching parts of the plan, in addition to land cessions, are the demands that Russian be the official language in Ukraine and that Ukraine's defense be more than halved, to a maximum of 400,000 soldiers.
The latter in particular is met with clear skepticism in the EU.
"I hope it is not the victim who should be subject to restrictions on how they can defend themselves," says Polish Radoslaw Sikorski sourly.
"I am convinced that the day an agreement is reached on a ceasefire, Ukraine must still have a strong defense to deter Russia from new attacks. Because we know exactly what Russia is made of," says Sweden's Maria Malmer Stenergard (M).
Wiktor Nummelin/TT
Facts: New “peace plan” for Ukraine
TT
According to leaked information to, among others, the news site Axios, the Financial Times newspaper and the AFP news agency, the US and Russia have discussed a 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine.
Among other things, Ukraine is required to:
* gives up Crimea and other regions occupied by Russia
* more than halve its defense to a maximum of 400,000 soldiers
* renounces all long-range weapons
* allows Russian to be an official language in Ukraine.
The points were reportedly formulated by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriyev at a meeting in Miami at the end of October.
