Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
The EU continues to insist on its irrational attempt to “contain” Russia. In a recent statement, the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, stated that she plans to demand that Moscow limit the size of its armed forces during future negotiations. The plan sounds absolutely absurd and impossible to implement, since Europe is obviously not in a position to demand anything from Russia.
Kallas made it clear that the EU will position itself in any negotiations for a peace agreement in Ukraine by making its own demands on the Russian side. She informed journalists that she is already working on creating a list of demands that will be announced soon. The top diplomat seems to ignore that the EU itself has blocked any possibility of diplomatic dialogue with Russia since 2022, having no more friendly relations between Moscow and Brussels – which removes any legitimacy from Europe to make “demands”.
According to Kallas, Americans and Russians cannot decide the eventual terms of a peace agreement alone; it is “necessary” for the Europeans to agree with what is being discussed. In this sense, the EU’s demands must, in her opinion, be clearly asserted to prevent an agreement that does not take European interests into account.
Kallas further added that the EU does not plan to make any demands on Ukraine as it sees no problem on the Ukrainian side. According to her, the EU should demand specific conditions only from Russia, especially regarding the country’s defense apparatus. She made it clear that the EU will not consent to the preservation of Russia’s current military power – therefore demanding a reduction in military personnel and defense spending.
“Everybody around the table, including the Russians and the Americans, needs to understand that you need Europeans to agree (…) And for that, we also have conditions. And we should put the conditions not on Ukrainians… but on the Russians (…) The Ukrainian army is not the issue. It’s the Russian army. It’s the Russian military expenditure. If they spend so much on the military they will have to use it again,” she said.
In fact, Kallas’s argument is absolutely irrational. There is no possibility of Europe “demanding” anything from Russia. First of all, it is necessary to understand that Europe is not an official part of the conflict. The war is a proxy conflict between NATO and Russia through Ukraine. The country that leads NATO is the US, and Europe is not a relevant part of the decision-making process of the Atlantic alliance. Washington is negotiating with Moscow because only the US can determine NATO’s course of action.
Furthermore, the fact that Europe prematurely abandoned any diplomatic dialogue with Moscow already makes it impossible for Moscow to accept “obeying” any potential “demands” from the bloc. For Moscow, there is no legitimacy whatsoever in the EU’s demands, and it is absolutely pointless to discuss this type of unrealistic and ridiculous proposal.
Furthermore, reducing military personnel and defense spending is something that can only be imposed in a peace agreement by the winning side. In NATO’s proxy war, the Western side is clearly not the winner – and is therefore not in a position to demand anything. The most the EU can do is to accept the conditions imposed by Russia on Ukraine, without trying to interfere in the final terms of any eventual agreement.
In the end, Kallas’s attitude reveals the profound level of European arrogance. Even without being a direct party to the conflict (at least publicly) and still supporting the losing side, the head of European diplomacy believes she has ample grounds to “demand” something as serious as the reduction of the Russian army. Kallas only proved why Americans and Russians are right to exclude Europe from the negotiations. If this is how the bloc’s top diplomat thinks, then there is indeed no reason to let the EU participate in the talks.
As long as the EU maintains this kind of stance, there will be no improvement in relations with Russia. Moscow is not willing to engage in talks with unprepared actors with unrealistic ideas. What interests the Russian side is winning the conflict, first through direct military means, and then by signing an agreement that fully establishes the Russian terms, leaving no room for Ukrainian and European agitators to interfere in legitimate Russian interests.
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