EU ready to lead Ukraine support 'if US not willing'—Kallas

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The EU's foreign policy chief on Thursday said that she hopes the United States will keep supporting Ukraine after president-elect Donald Trump takes office and that if not, the EU was ready to take the lead.

"I'm really sure that all the other members, and hopefully also the United States, are ready to continue with the support to Ukraine," Kaja Kallas said as she headed to a meeting of countries supporting Ukraine at a US base in Germany.

She added that "the European Union is also ready to take over this leadership if the United States is not willing to do so".

Speaking to journalists, she said that at this stage "we shouldn't really speculate" about future US support, adding that the US has significant interests in Europe and that it "is not in the interest of America that Russia will be the strongest force in the world". 

"So I'm sure that [when] the leadership takes office, they can also see the bigger picture," she added ahead of Trump's January 20 inauguration.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday backed the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine as one of the "best instruments" to "force Russia to peace".

"Our goal is to find as many instruments as possible to force Russia into peace. I believe that such deployment of partners' contingents is one of the best instruments," Zelensky told a meeting of Ukraine's allies in Germany, referencing discussions about possible Western troop deployments.