Isolationism has never worked for America, EU’s Kallas says

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By Lili Bayer and Andrew Gray

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s incoming foreign policy chief, cautioned on Tuesday against making assumptions about what U.S. President-elect Donald Trump would do in Ukraine and warned that isolationism had never worked for the United States.

Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia, told her confirmation hearing in the European Parliament that she did not think anybody yet knew what Trump would do about the war in Ukraine, triggered by Russia’s 2022 invasion.

After a lawmaker said Trump could end U.S. military support for Kyiv and quoted Vice President-elect J.D. Vance as saying that parts of Ukraine could stay with Russia as part of a peace deal, Kallas issued an indirect warning on isolationism.

“If we look to the history, then isolationism has never worked well for America,” Kallas said.

Like many European leaders in recent days, she also sought to make the case for continuing U.S. support for Ukraine by linking the war to Trump’s concerns about the rise of China.

She said Russia would not be able to prosecute the war so forcefully without Chinese support.

“If America is worried about China, they should first be worried about Russia,” said Kallas.

Trump, who will take office in January, has repeatedly criticised the scale of U.S. assistance to Ukraine and said he will end the war quickly.

His election victory last week has raised new questions about the future of Western aid to Kyiv and put pressure on European capitals to prepare for a scenario where Washington would cut its backing for Ukraine.

Kallas, who is set to succeed Josep Borrell in the coming weeks as the EU’s foreign policy chief, said Europe needed to stress links between Russia, Iran, North Korea and China in talking to its allies.

Long a staunch advocate for Ukraine, Kallas also said there would be consequences elsewhere in the world if Russia is seen to have gained from its invasion of Ukraine.

“If aggression pays off somewhere, it serves as an invitation to use it elsewhere – that is our worry,” she said.

Russia’s invasion and uncertainty about the future of U.S. support for Europe’s security have also put pressure on the continent’s leaders to do more on defence. Kallas stressed she was a strong supporter of those efforts.

“It’s clear that we have to do more: to produce more defence capabilities, ammunition,” Kallas said.

However, she said NATO must remain in a leading role when it comes to European defence, with the EU supporting on issues such as boosting arms production.

“I don’t think that (the) European Union needs separate military powers,” Kallas said.

She said she sees “synergy” between NATO and the EU “so that NATO prepares the military plans whereas (the) European Union and the member states really focus on how these ammunition and capabilities are fulfilled.”