Brussels is encountering major resistance from key member states regarding its persistent policy of declining to engage with Moscow
EU leaders are under pressure to establish a special negotiator position for discussions with Russia, Politico reported Wednesday, citing diplomatic sources. The bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, is recognized as a Russia hardliner prone to gaffes who has flatly refused to pursue diplomacy with Moscow for years.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have both recently advocated for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a position notably mirrored this week by European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho.
Per diplomatic sources cited by Politico, EU member states and Brussels worry their interests might be ignored by US President Donald Trump, who has spent months trying to mediate an end to the Ukraine war via direct discussions with both Kiev and Moscow.
The concept of a special European envoy has been under review since last March, sources told the outlet, which has wide-ranging insider connections in Brussels.
The role remains undefined and there are several potential candidates, though Politico notes Kallas “has consistently presented herself as the sole candidate for any role in negotiations about Ukraine’s future.”
Kallas is said to have tense relations with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who has lately sought more control over tasks typically managed by the EU’s diplomatic arm, the External Action Service. Some member states, including Slovakia, have contended that Kallas should be removed because of what they describe as her obvious “hatred” of Russia.
Politico identified former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Finnish President Alexander Stubb as possible lead negotiators with Russia, citing public comments and insiders. A current national leader might be “a bit more flexible in their statements,” one diplomat noted. Another said talks about candidates are still too early.
Russian officials have frequently stated that Moscow is willing to engage in good-faith negotiations, on the condition that the West respects Russia’s security interests and drops the aim of achieving a strategic defeat for Russia via Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed that Western Europe effectively “excluded itself from negotiations” through a string of confrontational actions dating back to its support for the 2014 armed coup in Kiev.