{"id":455200,"date":"2026-05-28T18:37:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/05\/28\/kallas-lue-non-sara-mai-un-mediatore-neutrale-siamo-sempre-stati-dalla-parte-di-kiev\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T17:03:48","slug":"kallas-the-eu-will-never-be-a-neutral-mediator-we-have-always-been-on-kyivs-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/05\/28\/kallas-the-eu-will-never-be-a-neutral-mediator-we-have-always-been-on-kyivs-side\/","title":{"rendered":"Kallas: “The EU will never be a neutral mediator; we have always been on Kyiv’s side”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – \u2018Mediator? <\/strong>What mediator?<\/strong> This is how one might summarise the position of the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, <\/span>Kaja Kallas<\/strong>, regarding the recent discussions<\/a> on the need for Brussels to put forward a high-profile figure capable of bringing Ukraine and Russia to the negotiating table and ending hostilities<\/span><\/p>\n

After having soundly rejected<\/a>\u2014due to his well-known ties with Moscow\u2014the name of the former German Chancellor Gerhard Schr\u00f6der<\/strong>,  recommended directly by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin<\/strong>, today (28 May) Kallas returned to the issue once again. During the press conference<\/a> following the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers\u2014the so-called Gymnich format<\/strong>\u2014held in Limassol (Cyprus), the former Estonian prime minister was crystal clear: \u201cOne thing is absolutely clear: Europe will never be a neutral mediator between Russia and Ukraine, because we have always been firmly on Kyiv\u2019s side<\/strong>,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it is a matter of negotiating a ceasefire or facilitating an agreement on any other issue, we cannot be the ones to do it<\/strong>\u201d because \u201cwe cannot be neutral by treating both sides equally,\u201d the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief further clarified.<\/p>\n

In an unlikely convergence of geopolitical views, Kallas\u2019s position appears to be the same as that of Donald Trump\u2019s United States<\/strong>. A few weeks ago, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio<\/strong>, stated<\/a> that \u201cthe United States is the only country in the world that can mediate and bring an end to the war in Ukraine<\/strong>.\u201d Today, in a way, Kallas agreed with him, explaining that \u201cour efforts must complement those of Washington<\/strong>.\u201d Europe, therefore, \u201cwill not take the place of the Americans in the negotiations; it will simply bring to the fore issues that the United States is not addressing in the current talks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether it is our allies across the Atlantic or someone else (at this point, it seems clear, not the EU), for Kallas, the role of mediators appears to be of little importance<\/strong>. \u201cThere may be states carrying out this ‘shuttle diplomacy\u2019, but ultimately we must push for Ukraine and Russia to talk directly to each other: on many issues, only they can decide, and no one else<\/strong>,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Estonian politician’s stance does not appear to be an isolated one within the EU. Sharing this view, for example, is a heavyweight figure in European politics who, paradoxically, just a few days ago, was mentioned as one of the possible candidates<\/a> as a mediator for the Old Continent: Norway\u2019s Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide<\/strong>. Interviewed in today\u2019s edition of the morning newsletter Brussels Playbook <\/em>by Politico<\/em>, Oslo\u2019s chief diplomat had anticipated Kallas\u2019s views by a few hours, explaining that \u201cEurope has misinterpreted its own role and, instead of seeking a mediator, should appoint someone to represent its interests unambiguously at the negotiating table<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, if for Kallas (and others) “who” matters little, what really needs to be emphasised is “what”<\/strong>. In other words, \u201cwhich issues do we want to see discussed\u201d during any peace talks. In this regard, the High Representative took the opportunity at today\u2019s press conference to reiterate the content of a discussion paper<\/em> that she presented in February<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition to “an unconditional ceasefire, Russia\u2019s recognition of Ukraine\u2019s territorial sovereignty and independence, and Moscow\u2019s cessation of all acts of sabotage, cyberattacks, electoral interference, and airspace violations carried out in Europe,” the document stipulates that among Brussels\u2019 “red lines” for a peace agreement there is also an issue that is very often overlooked<\/strong>: the withdrawal of Russian troops stationed in Georgia and Moldova<\/b><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis poses a clear security risk, and it is in our interest that these troops be withdrawn<\/strong>, particularly as these countries are seeking to embark on a path towards EU membership,\u201d Kallas emphasised.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the informal summit of foreign ministers in Cyprus, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs stated that the EU\u2019s efforts \u201cmust complement those of Washington, not replace them.\u201d And \u201con many issues, Ukraine and Russia must decide for themselves\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7899,"featured_media":455171,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[33830,34272,34273,29842],"class_list":["post-455200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-kaja-kallas","tag-mediatore-ue-nella-guerra-in-ucraina","tag-negoziati-di-pace-in-ucraina","tag-war-in-ucraine-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7899"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":455201,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455200\/revisions\/455201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}