Foreign Affairs Council: Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas upon arrival

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Good morning! 

We have a very packed agenda today. 

First, we are going to discuss Ukraine. We have a very good plan to discuss very specifically, what more can we do with the shadow fleet, because it really has an effect on Russia's revenues to finance this war. 

But of course, now we are going to discuss also the recent news. What we, as Europeans, have always supported is a long, lasting and just peace, and we welcome any efforts to achieve that. Of course, for any plan to work, it needs Ukrainians and Europeans on board. This is very clear. 

Also, we have to understand that in this war, there is one aggressor and one victim. We have not heard of any concessions on the Russian side. If Russia really wanted peace, it could have had agreed to unconditional cease fire already some time ago. Whereas we see again over this night bombings of civilians. 93% of Russian targets have been civilian infrastructure - schools, hospitals, apartment buildings - to kill a lot of people and cause as much suffering as possible.  This is our standing.  

We will also discuss Middle East, of course, now we have the United Nations resolution in place, and we are discussing how to also change the mandate of our two missions, the EUBAM Rafah border crossing mission, as well as the EUPOL COPPS, which is training Palestinian police, which is also part of that broader peace plan. 

Then, we have a comprehensive discussion on the Sahel planned. We have a new strategy in place, and we need a mandate to continue with that, how we engage with the countries in [the] Sahel.  

And finally, we also have a discussion on Sudan. We are also putting sanctions on Sudanese now the first time to really put the pressure on those who are committing the atrocities in Sudan. We [will] also discuss what more can we do.  

For lunch we have the ASEAN ministers, we can also discuss with them the common security challenges that we have in the world. Then in the evening we have the Indo-Pacific Ministers here, and we will have the Indo Pacific ministerial tomorrow, so we can talk about that. 

Q&A 

Q: Have European officials in any way been a part of the drafting of these packages mentioned between US and Russia? 

Not that I know of.

Q: How many police forces are going to be trained? Can you be a bit more concrete? Where is it going to happen? Who is going to be involved? 

We already have EUPOL COPPS mission that is helping with the Palestinian Authority. We have also today the Palestinian Donor Group meeting, which is the discussions with the Palestinian Authority about their reforms as well, which are needed. But coming to your question, the plan is to train 3.000 Palestinian policemen to cover the border and really have what police does in a country. As we are supporting a two-state solution, which means that there has to be two states, and which means that also Palestinians have to be the ones who are leading and owning the processes that are happening in Palestine. We can only help them with confidence building, and we can help them with the training of the policemen. But it requires also additional resources from the Member States, as well as people to send on those missions.  

Q: Obviously, it is very important to have humanitarian aid and to keep the peace. But, some people have been asking questions some countries, in fact, and in the European Parliament in relation to justice. Is the EU still focused on the idea of of justice for the Palestinians, for the innocent Palestinians who have died, in terms of Netanyahu government? 

First, we have now the ceasefire, which is quite fragile, and we are focusing on keeping the ceasefire, and building on that long lasting peace. Whereas the United Nations Security Council resolution comes in with the longer plan, who comes in with what resources. But in the end, of course, accountability for all the crimes committed is also a part of just and lasting peace. 

Q: Do you think only Donald Trump can end this war? 

No, in order to end this war, you need the Ukrainians and the Europeans to agree to those plans. Of course, Putin could end this war immediately, if he just stopped bombing civilians and killing people. But we have not seen any concessions on the Russian side. We welcome all the meaningful efforts to end this war. But like we have said before, it has to be just and lasting. That also means that the Ukrainians, but also Europeans, agree to this. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/media/video/I-281098