Brussels on Trump's plan and sabotage in Poland. “No plan will succeed without the consent of Europeans”

Russia is committing state-sponsored terrorism, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday in connection with acts of sabotage in Poland. We can respond in many ways, including through additional sanctions and combating online recruitment of saboteurs, she added.

Railway attacks and “petty criminals”

– Today we also raised the issue of attacks on the Polish railway network – said Kallas after the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. – Russia's hybrid actions in Europe are becoming more and more brazen. Russia is committing state-sponsored terrorism. We can respond in many ways, including through additional sanctions and the fight against online recruitment of saboteurs, she emphasized.

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski provided information about acts of sabotage on the Polish railway.

According to Kallas, ministers discussed who was committing these crimes. “These are usually petty criminals who are encouraged to commit acts of sabotage on behalf of others,” she said.

As the head of EU diplomacy added, prosecuting criminals is a national competence. – But since some countries have more experience in this than others, we should share best practices and speak out about it so that all these petty criminals do not go unpunished – she emphasized. In Kallas's opinion, we need to look at the way Russia recruits saboteurs on the Internet.

Strike on the “shadow fleet”

Kallas also announced another EU attack on the so-called Russian shadow fleet. The sanctions list already includes 550 ships carrying Russian oil. – Russian crude oil exports are the lowest in months. Russian tax revenues from oil sales are the lowest since the beginning of the war, she said. – Sanctions are hitting Russia hard, and more will be imposed on it – she argued.

In Kallas's opinion, however, striking the Russian shadow fleet is possible not necessarily as part of “large” sanctions packages, of which the EU has already adopted 19. As she said, this is possible by establishing cooperation with third countries where Russia registers its old ships.

– We are seeking to conclude pre-boarding agreements with these countries. This is a legal way for one party to board and search another country's ship, said the High Representative for Foreign and Defense Affairs. – Slowing down the shadow fleet will cost Russia, she argued.

Trump's plan? “We've seen this before.”

Kallas also referred to reports from the American station NBC News, which, citing a senior source in the US administration, reported that US President Donald Trump earlier this week supported a 28-point plan to end the war in Ukraine.

The head of EU diplomacy said that at the meeting, ministers accepted these reports calmly because “we have already seen it.” – No peace plans will succeed if Europeans and Ukrainians do not agree to them – she noted.

Kallas added that the EU has its own two-point plan: on the one hand, support Ukraine, and on the other, increase pressure on Russia.

Controversial details of the US proposal

According to NBC News, the plan, which Trump supported, was quietly developed in recent weeks by top US officials and was consulted with Vladimir Putin's envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, and representatives of the Ukrainian authorities. However, according to a source close to the Ukrainian government and a European official familiar with the matter, Ukraine did not participate in developing the plan. Kiev was informed about the outlines of the project, but not about the details, and Ukraine was not asked to contribute to the project, these people said.

According to the media, the plan includes, among others: handing over the rest of the unoccupied Donbas to Russia, partial disarmament and a radical reduction in the size of the Ukrainian army, and, according to the American website Axios, also recognition of the Russian annexation of Crimea and Donbas by the US.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the draft US peace plan and expressed his readiness to discuss it with US President Donald Trump, the office of the Ukrainian head of state announced on Thursday evening.

From Brussels Magdalena Cedro (PAP)

mce/ mal/