Russian President Vladimir Putin should make tangible concessions before the European Union picks up the phone to re-establish direct communications, High Representative Kaja Kallas said on Thursday as more European leaders call for direct engagement with the Kremlin as part of the Russia-Ukraine peace process currently being brokered by the White House.

“We can’t be the demandeurs here that, you know, we go to Russia (and say) talk to us,” Kallas said on Thursday after a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.

“The concessions that the Americans are putting on Ukraine are quite strong,” she added, referring to reports that Washington is asking Kyiv to give up the areas of the Donbas still under Ukrainian control in exchange for security guarantees.

“I don’t think there is anything that we can offer to Russia on top of what they already get in their understanding with the Americans, which means that why should they talk to us? Because they get what they want in this relationship.”

Kallas pointed to the fact that in the recent round of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi between Ukrainian, Russian, and American officials, Moscow was represented by a military officer, General Igor Kostyukov, rather than a political envoy “with the right to make decisions”.

Both Kyiv and Moscow described the talks as constructive, though their stances differ.

Instead of focusing on who should talk to Putin, Kallas added, European countries should devote their energy to further crippling his war machine, which has plunged Ukrainians into blackouts at sub-zero temperatures. Brussels aims to approve a new package of sanctions on Russia around the war’s fourth anniversary on 24 February.

“What we are working on is putting more pressure on Russia so that they would go from pretending to negotiate to actually negotiate, and also to take into account the worries that we have with Russia that this war will not continue and this war will not expand to other territories,” Kallas said in reply to a Euronews question.

“I think this is important to understand.”

To talk or not to talk

The contentious issue of re-engagement with Russia is high on the agenda after public backing from French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who argued the EU needed to speak with a unified voice vis-à-vis Putin.

“I believe the time has come for Europe to also speak with Russia,” Meloni said. “If Europe decides to take part in this phase of negotiations by talking only to one of the two sides, I fear that in the end the positive contribution it can make will be limited.”

The Italian leader suggested the EU appoint a special envoy to lead the conversation on behalf of all 27 member states, though she did not put forward a specific name.

The European Commission, a long-standing advocate of the strategy of diplomatic isolation, later admitted that direct talks will happen “at some point” but not yet.

On Thursday, before heading into the ministerial meeting that Kallas chaired, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel told Euronews that discussions with the Kremlin should not be off the table.

“We need to talk with them if we want a solution,” Bettel told Euronews’ flagship morning programme Europe Today. “And if I am too small to do it, then President Macron or someone else (should be) able to represent Europe, because they don’t want to talk to Kaja Kallas,” he added.

Bettel, who met Putin in Moscow in 2015 while serving as Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, said he did not have the “ego” to say he is the “right person” to act as an EU envoy.

“But if people are convinced that I could be helpful I will do it in any position,” he explained. “And I don’t need to be on the front of the scene. I can do it also in the back.”

Still, the idea of re-engaging with Putin remains unpalatable for some capitals, who fear the EU would fall into a trap and legitimise a president accused of war crimes.

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) – U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Mexican Secretary of Economy Marcelo Ebrard agreed on Wednesday to begin formal discussions on possible reforms to the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, Greer’s office said.

Possible reforms for the USMCA Joint Review include stronger rules of origin for industrial goods, more collaboration on critical minerals, increasing efforts to defend workers and producers, and U.S.-Mexican efforts to combat “the relentless dumping of manufactured goods in our region,” the USTR’s office said in a statement.

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USTR gave no details on timing for the talks and its statement did not say whether Canada would be involved. A USTR spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Ebrard called the discussion positive in a social media video, and said the two sides talked about next steps for the USMCA and covered new U.S. tariffs, including those affecting Mexico’s auto exports to the U.S.

“This year it has to be reviewed, as you know,” Ebrard said of USMCA. “We have already moved forward on many issues so that the review goes as quickly and as well as possible.”

USMCA has shielded Mexico from the bulk of President Trump’s tariffs, as goods that comply with its rules of origin can enter the U.S. duty-free.

Mexico’s Economy Ministry on Wednesday reported that the country’s exports reached a record high of nearly $665 billion in 2025, growing 7.6% from the previous year, citing data from the national statistics institute. The United States accounted for 83% of the exports, followed by Canada at 3%, China at 2%, Germany at 1% and South Korea at 1%, according to the report.

THREATS TO CANADA

U.S.-Canada trade relations had already soured even before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a speech at the World Economic Forum that angered Trump.

This drew criticism from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who cautioned Carney against picking a fight with the U.S. as the USMCA review approaches.

Bessent said on CNBC television that Carney “rose to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump message, and that’s not a great place to be when you’re negotiating with an economy that is multiples larger than you are and your biggest trading partner.”

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Talks between the U.K. and the U.S. over the future of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean have reportedly reopened after President Donald Trump’s comments cast doubt over an agreement that would see Britain hand sovereignty of the strategically vital archipelago to Mauritius.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer confirmed Wednesday that the U.K. had reopened discussions after the president had panned the deal and branded it an “act of great stupidity,” GB News reported.

“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump had posted on Truth Social. “There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”

He added: “The UK giving away extremely important land is an act of GREAT STUPIDITY, and is another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired.”

TRUMP WARNS US CAN NO LONGER THINK ‘PURELY OF PEACE’ AS HE PUSHES FOR GREENLAND CONTROL

The Chagos Islands were separated from Mauritius during Britain’s decolonization process, a move the International Court of Justice ruled unlawful in 2019. 

The U.K. later agreed to transfer sovereignty while leasing Diego Garcia back for at least 99 years at a cost of at least $160 million annually.

Diego Garcia is a hub for long-range bombers, logistics and power projection across the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific and Africa. 

Around 2,500 military and civilian personnel, mostly American, are stationed there. The base serves as a critical operation point for the U.S. and plays a central role in intelligence gathering and securing military communications.

Speaking aboard a flight to China, Starmer said he had “discussed Chagos with Donald Trump a number of times,” but declined to confirm whether the issue had been raised during a phone call between the two leaders on Sunday, The Financial Times reported.

TRUMP’S ‘SMALL ASK’ FOR GREENLAND WOULD BE THE REAL ESTATE DEAL OF A LIFETIME

Starmer also said the matter “has been raised with the White House at the tail end of last week, over the weekend and into the early part of this week.”

Starmer also added that when the Trump administration took office, the U.K. paused the agreement for three months to allow the U.S. time to assess the deal at the agency level.

“Once they’d done that, they were very clear in the pronouncements about the fact that they supported the deal, and there were announcements made,” he said.

A Downing Street spokesperson also confirmed London was working to “allay any concerns” in Washington, according to GB News.

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“We will continue to engage with the U.S. on this important matter and the importance of the deal to secure U.S. and U.K. interests and allay any concerns, as we’ve done throughout the process,” the spokesperson said.

Trump’s comments on the Chagos deal had been welcomed by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who wrote on X: “Thank goodness Trump has vetoed the surrender of the Chagos islands.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and Downing Street for comment.