Speaking to reporters in Limassol, Kallas said the debate over appointing a European envoy for potential peace talks with Russia risked distracting the bloc from maintaining pressure on Moscow and supporting Kyiv. Her remarks came as discussions within Europe intensified over whether and how to re-engage diplomatically with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It’s a trap that Russia wants us to walk into, that we discuss who talks to them, and they are already picking who is suitable, who is not,” Kallas said. “Let’s not walk into that trap.”

The meeting of EU foreign ministers took place against a shifting geopolitical backdrop, with U.S. President Donald Trump increasingly focused on tensions involving Iran while European officials assessed signs that Putin’s position may be weakening after more than four years of war in Ukraine.

Speculation over possible European negotiators has grown in recent weeks after Putin suggested former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a longtime ally of the Kremlin leader, could serve in such a role. The proposal was widely rejected across Europe.Several ministers attending the Cyprus talks argued that the European Union should nonetheless prepare for a future negotiating role.

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said Kyiv expected the bloc to organize itself politically and diplomatically for eventual talks with Moscow.“We should now get ready,” Meinl-Reisinger said, adding that she would push for the EU “to appoint a chief negotiator” capable of representing European interests and coordinating with Ukraine.

Other ministers cautioned against shifting focus away from sanctions, military assistance and diplomatic pressure on Russia. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said the immediate priority should remain increasing costs for Moscow rather than debating representation.“This is not a time when we are discussing who is going to have the negotiations,” Budrys said.

“We have to discuss what we are doing to put additional pressure on Russia.”Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna warned that Europe risked undermining its own position if it moved too quickly toward the role of neutral intermediary. He said the bloc should continue pursuing what he described as “strategic patience” while supporting Ukraine’s objectives.

“Of course we can find, if the time is right, who’s going to represent Europe,” Tsahkna said. “But this is a trap now that Putin wants to bring Europe in.”He added that no immediate breakthrough in negotiations appeared likely.

“Whoever would like to go right now this guy is not going to have a Nobel Prize, because there won’t be any serious talks,” he said.

Latvia’s military said in a statement that multiple unmanned aerial vehicles crossed into the airspace of the European Union and NATO member state, which shares a border with Russia.“Several unmanned aerial vehicles entered Latvian airspace,” the armed forces said, adding that two of the drones crashed on Latvian territory.

National police said one drone fell at an oil depot in Rezekne, near Latvia’s eastern frontier, causing a fire that firefighters later extinguished. Authorities did not report casualties or major infrastructure damage.The Latvian army warned that similar incidents could recur while Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.

“As long as Russian aggression against Ukraine continues, it is possible that such incidents will be repeated, when a foreign unmanned aircraft enters Latvian airspace or approaches it,” the military said.The incident marks the latest security concern for the Baltic states since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Stray or downed drones linked to the conflict have periodically entered or crashed in the territories of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, all former Soviet republics that are now members of NATO and the European Union.The Baltic region has heightened air defense monitoring and border surveillance amid fears that the Ukraine conflict could spill into neighboring territories through military accidents or escalating regional tensions.

Russia has not publicly commented on the incident.

Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark and Poland have all said Russian drones or fighter jets have violated their airspace in recent weeks, prompting the NATO alliance to beef up defence around Europe’s eastern flank.

“Within the scope of NATO Assurance Measures, our Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft is carrying out missions in Lithuanian airspace between September 22-25,” the ministry said in its weekly press statement.

AWACS are capable of detecting low-flying drones and other objects that ground radars miss.

The ministry provided no further information.

Poland has shot down some of the drones, and Lithuania’s parliament on Tuesday granted the armed forces powers to shoot down any unmanned drone violating its airspace.

Western officials say Russia is carrying out the airspace violations to test NATO’s readiness and resolve. Estonia and Poland have asked the alliance to open consultations under Article 4 of the NATO treaty.

Article 4 says members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territory, political independence or security of any of them is threatened.

Turkey, NATO’s second largest army, has strong ties with Russia in areas including energy and tourism. It has condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and provided Kyiv with military support, but refrained from joining Western sanctions against Russia as part of a balancing act that it says helps it talk to both sides.