EU’s Kallas says Washington ‘biggest ally’ despite US security downgrade 

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said the United States remains Europe’s “biggest ally” despite stinging criticism of the continent in a major strategy document amid ongoing ceasefire talks on the Ukraine war.

Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar on Saturday, Kallas said some of the US National Security Strategy’s criticism of Europe, which included charges of lacking in “self-confidence” and facing “civilizational erasure”, a widely dismissed claim, were true, but insisted the EU and US should “stick together”.

“I think we haven’t always seen eye to eye on different topics, but I think the overall principle is still there. We are the biggest allies,” she said, adding that the goal of the US should be to help Europe “correct its current trajectory”.

The document, which said Europe might one day lose its status as a reliable ally, struck a similar tone to the offensive launched by US President Donald Trump’s administration against Europe earlier this year as it pressed for countries to up their NATO contributions, accusing them of taking advantage of Washington’s generosity amid the Ukraine war.

Trump has taken a lead in efforts to end the war, which started with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, coming up with a plan that involves Ukraine surrendering land that Russia has not been able to win on the battlefield in return for security promises that fall short of Kyiv’s aspirations to join NATO.

US officials are holding a third straight day of talks on Saturday with Ukrainian counterparts who have pushed for revisions to that draft, as a follow-up to five hours of talks in Moscow on Tuesday, which confirmed Russian President Vladimir Putin is not giving up on his maximalist demands and territorial claims.

After the second day of talks on Friday, Washington had said “real progress” would depend on “Russia’s readiness to show serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps toward de-escalation and cessation of killings”.

Referring to previous US pressure applied on Kyiv to cede to Russian demands, Kallas told the Doha Forum that placing “limitations and stress on Ukraine actually does not bring us long-lasting peace”.

“If aggression is rewarded, we will see it happen again, and not only in Ukraine or Gaza, but all around the world,” she said.

Kallas said that Europe, which is nervous of a spillover from the war, had been “underestimating its own power”.

“Towards Russia, for example… we should be more self-confident,” she said.