US, Russia hold peace talks without Ukraine
Cliff Sims, former deputy director of national intelligence, appears on ‘America Reports’ to discuss the current status of negotiations between the United States and Russia aimed at resolving the conflict involving Ukraine.
A senior European Union official is cautioning President Donald Trump against allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to succeed in fracturing the long-standing alliance between the United States and Europe while Trump endeavors to halt the conflict in Ukraine.
“It is evident that any agreement pertaining to Ukraine that excludes Europe is destined to be unsuccessful,” remarked EU policy leader Kaja Kallas in an interview with Fox News Digital from South Africa. “The unity of Europe and the U.S. is crucial; this is precisely why Putin is striving to sow division between us.”
“Let’s not do him the favor,” she added.
Kallas, along with other European leaders, took issue this week when Trump said Ukraine needs to hold presidential elections – something that Ukraine constitutionally cannot do during a state of war.
“Elections in Ukraine are impossible amid Russia’s daily attacks, which have displaced millions of Ukrainians,” Kallas said. “Let’s not forget Russia hasn’t held a free election in 25 years.”
Kaja Kallas speaks to the press during EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, on Dec. 19, 2024. (Nicolas Landemard/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Kallas, who told Fox News Digital that she has submitted a proposal that would see EU nations ramp up military aid to Ukraine this year, argued, “Kyiv must be able to negotiate from a place of strength.”
Reports indicated that European leaders were set to hold a second emergency summit on Ukraine in Paris on Wednesday after a smaller group of leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Denmark and the U.K. reportedly convened on Monday following the Munich Security Conference.
Despite concerns that Putin could be dividing the West, one former DIA intelligence officer and author of “Putin’s Playbook,” Rebekah Koffler, argued the Trump administration’s strategy on ending the war is not an indication the U.S. is abandoning its allies.
“The U.S. is not turning against Europe,” she said. “NATO had 10 years, a decade to prepare for and deter this war.”
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Feb. 14, 2025. (Tobias Schwarz/AFP via Getty Images)
“In the course of several years, my colleagues and I briefed senior military and intelligence officials of top European nations on the Russian threat. In vain,” Koffler said, noting that she and her American intelligence colleagues warned European nations in 2013 ahead of Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014. “NATO ignored the threat for a decade and did not bother to develop a counter-strategy to Putin’s Playbook.
“Trump is handing over the responsibility for Europe’s protection to the Europeans,” she added, noting the West was already divided given some NATO nations’ failures to meet defense spending agreements.
