Kallas: Any peace deal made behind backs of Ukraine and EU will fail

Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, believes that any peace agreement to resolve the Russo-Ukrainian war that is concluded behind the backs of Ukraine and Europe is doomed to failure.

Kallas was asked if she believed that efforts to conclude an agreement to end the war in Ukraine have been started behind Europeans' backs.

"As I say, any agreement without us will fail because you need Europe and Ukraine to also implement the agreement. So, without us at the table, you can agree on whatever, but it will just simply fail because the implementation is not there," Kallas said in a comment to reporters in Brussels before a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

She stressed that any quick fix would be a bad idea and would not work.

"Any quick fix is a dirty deal that we have seen before, when it comes to Minsk, for example, and it will just simply not work. It will not stop the killing. It will not stop the war," Kallas said.

She also noted that the current situation could be compared to that of 1938.

"We are in the situation where Czechia has decided to fight back and the only thing that is expected from us is to support them with weapons, with anything they need in order for there not to be the Second World War. And right now, we also need to help Ukraine to defend [against] the aggression so that there won't be any broader conflict," the EU chief diplomat stressed.

On the evening of 12 February, Donald Trump spoke with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and said that they were planning a meeting. Trump then called Volodymyr Zelenskyy.