Europe’s chief diplomat says Russia can be defeated via economic pressure

Chief European Union diplomat Kaja Kallas rejected President Donald Trump’s claim that the European Union was made to “screw” the United States on Sunday.

Kallas made the comment while speaking to CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” arguing the EU is fundamentally about taining peace.

“Europe is a peace project. You know, it was created so that we wouldn’t have wars between the members of the European Union, and we haven’t had any. And, of course, also to do things together, cooperate more,” Kallas said.

“You know, coming from a country that joined the European Union 20 years ago. Then, we were actually, you know, pushed by the Americans, you know, [saying] you will not get into NATO, but Europe, the European Union, is something that you should join because it’s, it’s a good project also for transatlantic relations. So I was quite surprised to hear a comment like that,” she added.

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Kallas went on to affirm the wide base of support for Ukraine in Europe, and that she has been coordinating with French President Emanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“The fight that Ukraine is having is not only about Ukraine sovereignty, but it’s much, much broader. It’s about freedom of the free world, really. It is about the world where international law applies and the world where might does not make right,” she said.

The official went on to argue that the U.S. and Europe could grind the Russian war machine to a halt via economic pressure.

“We shouldn’t overestimate the power of Russia and underestimate our own power,” she argued. “We know that their economy is not doing well. I mean, their inflation is over 20%, their National Fund is almost completely depleted.”

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“They don’t have the same revenues from gas and oil that they used to to fund the war machine. So actually, if we concentrate our efforts, we can put the pressure so that they would stop the war,” she continued.

Kallas’ comments come after Trump blasted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a White House meeting on Friday. He insisted that Ukraine doesn’t “have the cards” and must sue for peace rather than relying on an indefinite flow of aid from the U.S.