Europe must keep the pressure on Russia because the country remains intent on "permanently redrawing maps" and bringing back its lost "spheres of influence", Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, as fast-paced peace talks led by the United States raise the prospect of economic relief for Moscow despite its continued assault on Ukraine, Euronews reports.
"From the start, Russia has always believed that they can outlast Ukraine, Europe and all of its allies," the European Commission president told the European Parliament in Strasbourg in a speech on Wednesday morning.
"And it is why every time there is serious progress towards negotiations that can bring about a real peace, the violence escalates," she went on, referring to the recent barrage of Russian strikes against Ukraine's civilian population.
"We have seen this before. This is a pattern. And the noises from the Kremlin in the last few days say a lot about its real intentions. For them, Ukraine remains a first step in a much bigger game."
Von der Leyen's remarks come as the Kremlin signals its intention to reject the peace plan that emerged from talks between American and Ukrainian officials in Geneva over the weekend.
The negotiations considerably modified the terms of the original 28-point draft, which contained sweeping provisions that favoured Moscow's interests.
Europeans, who were not consulted before the 28-point template leaked to the press, were aghast at the proposals affecting crucial matters under their jurisdiction, such as the future of economic sanctions and the fate of immobilised Russian assets.
The past few days have seen a frenzy of high-level contacts, including an informal meeting of EU leaders on Monday and a virtual gathering of the "Coalition of the Willing" on Tuesday, aimed at strengthening Europe's voice and helping Kyiv rebalance the text.
"This principle has been accepted," von der Leyen said. "Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. Nothing about Europe without Europe. Nothing about NATO without NATO."
In her speech, von der Leyen argued against limiting the size of the Ukrainian armed forces, a contentious topic in the talks, and urged robust security guarantees to prevent a repeat of the full-scale invasion.
Western allies are considering deploying a multinational force on Ukrainian soil to boost deterrence once the war is over. Moscow has rejected the idea outright.
"We know that Russia's mindset has not changed since the days of Yalta, seeing our continent in terms of spheres of influence," von der Leyen told MEPs.
"So we need to be clear that there cannot be a unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation. And that borders cannot be changed by force. If today we legitimise and formalise the undermining of borders, we open the doors for more wars tomorrow."
