French and German leaders Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz criticized European Council President Antonio Costaʼs efforts to establish contact with the Kremlin in a closed-door meeting.
Politico reports this, citing sources familiar with the meeting.
The EU has been debating in recent months what relationship it should have with Putin (if at all) and, if so, who should lead it. The urgency of the issue has increased after US President Donald Trump struck a preliminary peace deal with Iran and signaled at the G7 summit in France earlier this week that he was turning his attention back to Ukraine.
Politico sources say that Costaʼs chief of staff, Pedro Lurtier, has contacted officials in Moscow twice in the past few weeks.
Macron and Merzʼs position is that now is not the time to talk to Putin, and when that moment comes, the "E3" of France, Germany, and the UK should take the initiative. They were supported by Estonia, Denmark, the Netherlands, and other countries.
“The European Union cannot assume the role of mediator in these negotiations. The assumption that alternative channels or secret diplomatic paths are necessary is false… History clearly warns against trying to find alternative frameworks for negotiations with dictators,” Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal told Politico.
However, other leaders (“a huge number,” according to one EU country official) took the opposite position, saying that this was the EU’s role, and supported Costa.
“The first question is whether Putin wants to negotiate. Until then… no one but Kosta can represent the European Union. If he [Putin] shows a willingness to negotiate, then I think we will have to decide again how we proceed,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told Politico as he left the talks.
- In January, Politico reported that EU members were pressuring the European Council to appoint a special negotiator with Putin on Ukraine. Europeans fear that Washington could strike a secret deal with Moscow without taking Europeʼs position into account.
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