By Andrew Gray
BRUSSELS, March 17 (Reuters) – European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called on the United States and Israel on Tuesday to end their war with Iran and said the EU was consulting with governments in the Middle East about how to bring the conflict to a conclusion.
In an interview with Reuters in Brussels, Kallas also said the door was not closed to European participation in efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz but it would be most likely to come as part of a diplomatic solution.
Multiple European nations have rebuffed U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls to take part in a mission to free up the Strait, a key transit point for oil, gas and other goods now largely blocked by Iran.
European leaders have said they are not willing to put their forces in harm’s way in the middle of a war that they did not start, even though Trump has warned their reluctance could have negative consequences for the NATO alliance.
Kallas said Europe did not understand some of the United States’ actions under Trump or its objectives in Iran but had become used to his unpredictability and “more calm” in its responses.
KALLAS SAYS EU CONSULTING WITH MIDEAST COUNTRIES ON WAYS TO END WAR
Asked if it was time to bring the war to an end, Kallas said: “Absolutely. I think … it would be in the interest of everybody if this war stops. The problem with wars is that it’s easier to start than to stop them, and it always gets out of hand.”
Kallas, a former prime minister of Estonia who serves as the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the 27-nation EU, said the bloc was willing to help “diplomatically to bring the parties together to really stop this war”.
“We have been consulting with regional countries like the Gulf countries, Jordan, Egypt, (about) whether we could also bring forward proposals for Iran, Israel and the U.S. to get out of this situation so that everybody saves face.”
She gave no further details on the consultations.
The war is the latest in a series of events that have severely strained relations between Europe and the United States since Trump returned to the White House in January last year.
“The main concern of the European countries is that we were not consulted with (before) starting this war – actually the opposite. There were many Europeans who were trying to convince the U.S. and Israel not to start this war,” Kallas said.
KALLAS FLOATS BLACK SEA GRAIN DEAL AS MODEL FOR STRAIT OF HORMUZ
Nevertheless, the war is already having a major impact on Europe, most immediately through higher energy prices due to Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
“Nobody is ready to put their people in harm’s way in the Strait of Hormuz,” Kallas said. “We have to find … diplomatic ways to keep this open so that we don’t have a … food crisis, fertilisers crisis, energy crisis in the world.”
Kallas has floated the idea of replicating a U.N.-brokered deal that gets grain out of Ukraine during wartime. It allows Ukraine to export grain, foodstuffs and fertilizers through the Black Sea, without civilian vessels coming under attack by Russia.
She said she had spoken to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres about the idea and the U.N. was “working on this”.
“Now the question is what also the neighbouring countries could agree to, especially Iran,” she said.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray, Lili Bayer and Gianluca Lo Nostro and Bart H. Meijer; Writing by Andrew Gray; Editing by William Maclean)
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