The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she will visit the United States on Tuesday for talks with her counterpart Marco Rubio as Washington pushes to end Russia's war in Ukraine.
Europe is scrambling to make its voice heard after US President Donald Trump sidelined Kyiv and its backers on the continent by launching talks with Moscow to end the three-year war.
"You can discuss whatever you want with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, but if it comes to Europe or Ukraine, then Ukraine and Europe also have to agree to this deal," Kallas told journalists Monday at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Trump has fuelled fears that he is willing to undercut Ukraine. He has unleashed broadsides against President Volodymyr Zelensky that echo Russian rhetoric, including calling him a "dictator".
"To look at the messages that come from the United States, then it's clear that the Russian narrative is there, very strongly represented," Kallas said.
Kallas' visit to Washington comes amid a flurry of European outreach to the Trump administration, with French President Emmanuel Macron set to meet the US leader in the White House on Monday.
The EU's top diplomat said foreign ministers in Brussels would discuss a proposal to boost deliveries of key weaponry to Kyiv -- but there was unlikely to be an agreement on an overall euro value for the supplies.
The bloc will also formally impose a 16th round of sanctions on Moscow over the invasion -- including a ban on aluminum imports from Russia.
AFP/RSS
