A senior European official told the Financial Times that EU leaders are preparing for possible talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European Council President Antonio Costa said that European Union countries “have the capacity” to negotiate with Putin, and that the bloc has the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for such talks.
Costa added: “I am holding talks with the leaders of the 27 European Union countries to determine the best way to organize our work and to understand what we have to discuss with Russia when the time is right.”
The European Council president noted that Zelensky, at the EU leaders’ summit in Cyprus in April, “called on us to be ready to make a positive contribution to the negotiations.”
According to him, the European Union will not interfere in the American-brokered negotiations, and he has not yet seen any signs of Moscow’s readiness for dialogue with Brussels. “There is potential [для переговоров с Путиным]But so far no one sees any indications that Russia wants to actively participate in serious negotiations.”
The European Union has become increasingly disillusioned with the ongoing negotiations between Ukraine and Russia through US mediation. European countries fear that the negotiations will drag on, and have been excluded from discussing the terms of a possible settlement.