Trump-Putin call shows Russia doesn’t want to make ‘concessions’: EU top diplomat

BRUSSELS: The EU’s top diplomat said Wednesday Vladimir Putin’s call with US President Donald Trump showed Russia wasn’t interested in making “concessions” on Ukraine, and insisted Kremlin demands to stop arming Kyiv can’t be accepted.

“If you read the two readouts from the call, so it is clear that Russia does not really want to make any kind of concessions,“ EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

Putin agreed in a call with US counterpart Donald Trump Tuesday to halt attacks against Ukrainian energy targets, but refused a full ceasefire unless the West halts all military aid for Kyiv.

Kallas said that demand from the the Kremlin “can’t be accepted”.

“What Russia wants is that Ukraine will let all the guards down,“ she said.

“If they achieve that no military aid to Ukraine, then they are free to continue, because the Ukrainians can’t defend themselves. So I mean, clearly this can’t work.”

Washington has been pushing for an immediate 30-day ceasefire as a first step to ending the grinding three-year-old war.

But while the highly anticipated call did not secure the breakthrough ceasefire endorsed by Ukraine last week, it did result in a scaled-back commitment to halt attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.

Hours after the call explosions rang out and air raid sirens wailed in Ukraine as Moscow unleashed a fresh aerial barrage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had hit civilian infrastructure, including a hospital, and accused the Kremlin of effectively rejecting the US-backed ceasefire.