POLITICO said the EU had initially aimed to send the €40 billion in military aid to Ukraine, including 1.5 million rounds of artillery ammunition, in 2025, but a Hungary veto derailed that plan, prompting Kallas to revise it downwards to 2 million artillery rounds worth €5 billion which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday would be "really appreciated" as a baseline amount.

On the same day, however, Kallas scaled back her proposal further, yet was unable to secure sufficient support from Italy, Slovakia, and even key ally and nuclear power France.

These three countries had pushed to make contributions voluntary or bilateral; divisions across the bloc fell along roughly southwest-northeast lines, with countries to the left of that line less eager to provide aid – often citing budgetary issues but with a lower felt threat from Russia a factor too.

While Kallas has inherited these difficulties, she has also been personally criticized, not for her aims but for the handling of the project, which one diplomat POLITICO spoke to even described as "botched up," and another said "should have been discussed" ahead of pressing forward.

Critics pointed to a failure to consult with key stakeholders, both countries, such as France, and personalities, such as Bjorn Seibert, an aide to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

This all served to weaken the plan, POLITICO reported, while Kallas has according to some critics failed to adapt to her new role as EU foreign chief - "She still behaves like a prime minister, she hasn't realized that she has now a different job," as one diplomat put it.

Another, senior, EU diplomat added: "If you say everywhere, as she does and she's right, that we need to maintain unity, then you also have to prepare such important initiatives in a unity manner."

Meanwhile, non-EU member state the UK has initiated a "coalition of the willing," mainly consisting of European countries wishing to help Ukraine and which is due to hold a summit in Paris next week, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron.

Well before becoming EU high representative, Kallas, prime minister of Estonia 2021-2024, had had a warm relationship with Commission President von der Leyen, who has made more than one official visit to Estonia.

The POLITICO piece follows an article by German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), which covered the €40 billion "Kallas initiative" falling through, as well as other tensions including around the fate of seized and frozen Russian assets.

Europe is taking on an even greater role in military aid to Ukraine and plans for the same, following the entry into office of Donald Trump as US president and changed priorities arising from that.

While Trump has been talking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and to President Zelenskyy, no concrete rise in aid accompanied his recent calls for a 30-day ceasefire, meaning that Russia has in effect called his bluff on the matter.

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