EU contact: Brussels is trying to rally the union amid calls for dialogue with Russia

The head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, is trying to rally Kiev's allies to increase pressure on the Russian Federation, the expert community told Izvestia. On February 20, she took part in a meeting of defense ministers of five European countries in Krakow. Strengthening support for Ukraine is on the agenda of the negotiations. At the same time, preparations are underway for a new round of negotiations in Geneva. However, experts note that while Brussels insists on a hard line, Washington is already inclining Kiev to territorial concessions. In turn, EU politicians are increasingly inclined towards dialogue with Russia.

Negotiations on financing Ukraine

The next meeting of the defense ministers of the E5 group — Poland, France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom — took place in Krakow. Mikhail Fedorov, the head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, joined her via video link. The head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, and NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinskaya also took part. Among the topics of the talks is strengthening military support for Kiev.

The meeting in Poland took place against the background of the peace process in Ukraine. The latest round of trilateral talks between Moscow, Washington and Kiev took place on February 17-18 in Geneva. Prior to that, the contacts took place in the UAE in Abu Dhabi. On February 20, Vladimir Putin discussed with members of the Security Council the results of the meeting in Switzerland. Russia assumes that the negotiation process will continue.

At the same time, in recent months, Europe has been increasingly talking about the inevitability of restoring dialogue with Russia. This was stated, in particular, by the leaders of France, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and Austria. But Kaya Callas insists on something else. In her opinion, consolidation, as it was four years ago, should be based on joint military assistance to Ukraine. Radmila Shekerinskaya spoke in the same spirit. Following the meeting, she said that Mikhail Fedorov had proposed "a very clear plan to increase Ukraine's defense capability," and all Kiev's allies should definitely support him.

—Kaya Kalas sets herself the task of preserving some kind of unity of the European Union, and preserving unity on the foundations that were formulated four years ago, immediately after the start of the SVR," Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club, told Izvestia.

Many people understand that in modern conditions these principles need to be revised, since the forecasts that were made, including in the European Commission four years ago, regarding the dynamics of the conflict, the significance of sanctions, and their consequences for Russia have not been justified. Therefore, voices are becoming louder in Europe saying that something needs to be changed in these positions, the expert explained.

He recalled that just before the meeting in Krakow, Kaya Kallas sent a document to European countries in which she literally ultimatum demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from Donbass.

— Although Russia insists on negotiations for Ukraine to withdraw its troops. Accordingly, the United States demands concessions from Ukraine," Kortunov stressed.

Europe has repeatedly expressed a desire to participate in negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement. Russia has repeatedly pointed out the destructive actions of the EU, which hinder the peace process. Thus, Europe has actually become Kiev's main military donor, overtaking the United States.

According to the Kiel Institute of World Economy, European military aid increased by 67% in 2025. The EU does not stop its sanctions policy against the Russian Federation. On February 24, he expects to adopt a new package of restrictions, which should include a complete ban on the provision of services for offshore supplies of Russian oil.

Militarization of Europe and Russia's response

At the meeting in Krakow, the military buildup by the European countries themselves was also discussed. The ministers signed a joint commitment to increase defense capabilities, discussed the possibility of a long-range strike, unmanned and anti-drone systems. They also discussed the creation of the SAFE program, an EU financial instrument that will support investments in the defense of the union's members. Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh noted that the initiative was planned back during the Cold War, but never implemented.

It is no secret that the Europeans are using the Ukrainian crisis to modernize their military-industrial complex. For example, in the German budget for 2026, defense spending increased to €108 billion. This is the highest rate in the last 35 years.

—Both Germany and France can potentially pose a definite challenge to American hegemony in the field of modern arms production and trade,— Andrei Kortunov believes.

According to him, the United States is not interested in Europe developing a self-sufficient military-industrial complex on a scale comparable to the American one. If the EU continues to combine its military capabilities, Washington will have economic problems, not to mention that Brussels will start talking to the United States in a completely different tone — from a position of strength, Kortunov added.

At the same time, the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that it will respond to the militarization of European countries.

— The response to the threats, it seems, to put it mildly, will be very convincing. Exactly the answer. We have never initiated a military confrontation ourselves. It is meaningless, unnecessary and simply absurd, it leads away from real problems and challenges," Vladimir Putin said earlier.

The words of the Polish Defense Minister after the meeting are noteworthy: "Europe has heard a voice from across the ocean." In the updated US national security strategy, the Euro-Atlantic alliance is being replaced by a network of bilateral deals with "exemplary allies" that must spend more than 3% of GDP on defense and buy American weapons. Instead of an alliance between the United States and Europe, there are three lines of deterrence: defense, economics, and politics. EU countries are forced to spend huge amounts of money on the military sphere, which makes it impossible for them to compete with the United States in high technology. At the same time, Europe depends on American LNG after severing ties with Russia, which makes the industry of the union countries less competitive.