Kallas after US envoys' visit: Russia is not interested in peace

The head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said that Russia is not showing real interest in ending the war. She expressed hope that the trip of US President's special representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv allowed the American side to better see the Kremlin's position.

Kallas said this to journalists on September 7 during a visit to Lithuania, LRT reports.

According to the head of EU diplomacy, Russia's actions currently do not indicate readiness to make real concessions for a peaceful settlement.

"Russia is actually not interested in peace — on the contrary. Losing the initiative, they are bombing civilians. Currently we do not see that Russia is really interested in peace, because they have not made a single concession that they could have made," — said Kallas.

The statement came after the trip of Witkoff and Kushner, who visited Moscow and Kyiv successively over the weekend. In Moscow, the representatives of the US president met with Vladimir Putin, after which, for the first time within the current negotiation process, they arrived in the Ukrainian capital and held talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Kallas separately noted the very fact of the American negotiators' trip to Kyiv. Previously, Witkoff had repeatedly visited Russia, but had not come to Ukraine as a negotiator of the US president.

"I am glad that the special envoy visited Kyiv for the first time as well. For Ukrainians, this meant three days without bombardment of civilian objects. Therefore, I think this is a positive side of this visit," — stated the head of European diplomacy.

However, the American representatives after the meetings gave a more optimistic assessment of diplomatic prospects. Witkoff announced "significant progress" and said that Washington expects a return to a trilateral negotiation format involving the US, Ukraine and Russia.

Kushner also spoke about the need to resume direct trilateral negotiations. According to him, the American side discussed this possibility with both Moscow and Kyiv and expects further progress.

However, no concrete agreement on a ceasefire or a meeting of leaders was announced after the negotiations. One of the main unresolved issues remains Russia's territorial claims: Moscow continues to claim, among other things, territories in Donbas that the Russian army does not control.

Kallas' position coincides with the assessment she had voiced even before the visit of the American representatives. On September 4, after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the head of European diplomacy said that Moscow had not changed the goals of the war, and Russian strikes on Ukraine indicate a lack of desire for peace.

Based on materials from: LRT, European External Action Service