EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Kyiv and its partners should continue to apply pressure on Russia to improve Ukraine’s position in any eventual negotiations to end the war.
Kallas, speaking on January 14 in an interview with RFE/RL and several European newspapers, said increasing economic pressure on Moscow and isolating it internationally are the only ways to prevent Russia from gaining the upper hand.
“We should not underestimate our own capabilities and overestimate the Russians,” Kallas said. "Russia sometimes seems like a mysterious power that cannot be defeated. This is not true. We are stronger in terms of both military and economic capabilities. We should approach things from a position of strength.”
Signs of strain on Russia's economy include key interest rates above 20 percent, Gazprom cutting 40 percent of its management, a labor market in "very bad shape,” and the recruitment of North Korean soldiers to fight on Moscow's side, she said.
"All this shows that they are not in a good position,” she added.
Russia is convinced that time is on its side, but Kallas said she believes this is wrong and Kyiv's Western allies should further increase economic pressure.
"We see that their cash reserves are completely depleted. They have much less income from the sale of oil and gas than before," she said.
The European Union will discuss sanctions as they try to decide on a 16th package to coincide with the February 24 anniversary of the war, an EU official told RFE/RL. It will be a substantive package despite the difficulty of finding new areas to sanctions, the official said.
The focus of the package is therefore expected to be technical and anti-evasion measures. In addition the discussions will consider import restrictions on primary aluminum, tariffs on agricultural products, including chemicals used in fertilizers, and more measures to restrict Russia's so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, according to the official.
Kallas expressed confidence that the European Union will be able to maintain unity on its policy of sending arms and other aid to Ukraine despite resistance from a few European governments that are sympathetic to Russia.
The former Estonian prime minister said the European Union has been able to maintain unity despite "difficult negotiations" with those governments.
“This is becoming increasingly difficult,” she admitted. "Yet I still have confidence that we can represent a unified position, because only with this can we remain strong.”
The stronger Ukraine is on the battlefield, the stronger it will be at the negotiating table, she said.
SEE ALSO: Trump Says Ukraine Peace Talks Could Begin Soon After Taking OfficeKallas also commented on President-elect Donald Trump’s statement that he will be able to end the war quickly, saying that the world awaits Trump’s plan. If Trump, who is set to be inaugurated on January 20, really uses U.S. power to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine and stop the bombing of civilians and civilian infrastructure, the war could end in a timely manner, she said.
But she reiterated the EU's position that there should be no decision about Ukraine without Ukraine’s consent and that goes for Europe as well.
“It is clear that whatever agreement is reached, Europe must be part of it. It is up to the Ukrainians to decide what kind of agreement is acceptable to them,” she said.
Whether Putin truly wants peace is another question, she said, warning that a cease-fire would only be used by the Russians to regroup and rearm their forces.
"The Russians have never respected cease-fires. That’s why it’s important for Europe that the peace is sustainable and lasting,” she said.
Kallas also spoke about recent attacks on undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, stressing that it would be a mistake to treat them separately from attacks on different European critical infrastructure. The incidents should be considered collectively and also in the context of similar attacks that she said China has carried out against Taiwan and South Korea.
This points to the need to further develop international maritime law and the need to further tighten sanctions against Russia's so-called shadow fleet that it uses to evade sanctions on its oil exports, she said.