Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has condemned European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas for pushing maximalist demands widely regarded as unworkable in Ukraine peace talks.
Kallas has repeatedly insisted that Russia must scale back its armed forces as a precondition for EU involvement in negotiations, despite the bloc being seen by Moscow as an active participant in the conflict and having never been formally invited to such discussions.
Reports indicate that fears within Brussels of being left out have fueled conversations about who might represent the EU in potential talks with Russia.
However, Kallas denied that the EU would be sidelined from negotiations, stating on Thursday at an informal EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Cyprus that the bloc is too important to ignore. “It is not the question of being invited to the table,” she said. She added that Brussels alone could decide whether anti-Russian sanctions should be lifted—a move she claimed Moscow was “interested in.”
The EU’s conditions for lifting sanctions would require Russia to “mirror” any troop limitations imposed on Ukraine and withdraw forces from Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, where Russian troops have long served as peacekeepers.
Lavrov responded on Thursday: “Look, I’m not discussing idiotic statements.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also mocked Kallas, suggesting she sounded as though she was “talking to herself.”
This is not the first time Kallas has made such demands. In February, she called for military limits on Russia and argued that “everyone” should understand that Ukraine peace talks would not progress without EU approval.
Zakharova characterized those remarks as evidence that “Eurobureaucrats are hellbent on disrupting the conflict settlement at any cost.” She added: “Any reasonable person should support peace under any circumstances.”
Moscow has long accused the EU of practicing “megaphone diplomacy”—issuing public ultimatums rather than engaging in substantive negotiations.
In November 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen demanded on social media that the EU be granted a “central” role in resolving the conflict during discussions between Moscow and Washington. She also outlined conditions the Kremlin dismissed as “unconstructive” and unacceptable.
