Kallas Says US ‘Can’t Negotiate on Our Behalf’ on Russia Sanctions

Speaking in an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24’s Talking Europe program, published on November 11, Kaja Kallas drew a hard line over who can bargain on European sanctions against Russia.

The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy was asked about talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11 and about Washington’s separate contacts with Moscow.

“What Russia wants out of these talks is the lifting of sanctions and also the release of the frozen assets,” Kallas said. “These are European decisions. They can’t be made by anybody else but Europe.”

She said Moscow would rather deal with Washington. “Of course, Russia does not want to talk to Europe, because it’s easier to talk to the US, but those things that are our decisions, America can’t negotiate on our behalf.”

Sanctions Remain a European Decision

Kallas said Europe had to stay “firm and united on the message.” There are “a lot of different formats to talk to Russians,” she said, “but I think it is important that we all deliver the same message.”

The warning comes as European governments have argued they must have a seat in any settlement, saying no one should speak in their name at talks on Ukraine. The interviewer noted that the EU was represented in Abu Dhabi even as Russia has been reluctant to deal with Europe, and that President Donald Trump has focused on meetings with President Vladimir Putin.

Europe Carries Most Ukraine Funding

The interviewer said the United States had clearly stopped funding Ukraine and that Europeans were carrying most of the financial burden. Kallas agreed that “the majority of the funding for Ukraine has been from Europe” over the past year.

“It would help a lot if other G7 partners, also America, would come in with their finances to support Ukraine,” she said, “and at the same time also putting pressure on Russia so that they will stop this war.”

EU governments are already arguing over how to keep financing Kyiv, including a budget dispute over Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s aid ultimatum.

A Call for Pressure on Russia

Kallas said Washington should increase pressure on Moscow, arguing there is “one aggressor and one victim.” “In order to really stop this war, we have to put the pressure on the aggressor,” she said.

Europe has done so through sanctions, she added, and “if the Americans would do the same, it would have an effect that could deprive Russians of the funding that they have for this war.” Wars, she said, “also end when aggressors run out of money.”

Asked whether a new U.S. Congress would keep supporting Ukraine after the midterms, Kallas said officials would have to see whether Washington changed its posture once the new Senate and Congress take office.