From 14m agoMorning opening: Don't walk into a Russian 'trap' on talks, EU's chief diplomat warnsJakub KrupaThe EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, has warned against walking into a Russian “trap” by focusing on personalities rather than issues in potential talks to end the war in Ukraine. Her comments came as the bloc’s foreign ministers gathered in Cyprus for informal talks to discuss what would their main asks of Russia be in any peace negotiations.In recent days, several EU leaders opined on who could lead any potential talks with Russia, with a number of names – including that of Kallas – being floated as an option. Finland’s president Alexander Stubb was also one of the early favourites.But speaking early morning before the talks started, Kallas conceded there is “not much happening” in the talks right now, as she cautioned against focusing on personalities:
“It’s a trap that Russia wants us to walk into, that we discuss who talks to them, and they are already picking who is suitable, who is not. Let’s not walk into that trap.
Negotiations are always a team effort. You have good cops, you have bad cops, you have a strategy [on] how you go to the table, so that is why the substance is much more important.”
