Europe Divided Over Russia Talks
European leaders have stepped up discussions in recent weeks over possible direct talks with Russia on the war in Ukraine and wider security issues after years of diplomatically isolating Moscow.
They have yet to agree on a common approach, however, and some countries remain wary of engaging directly with the Kremlin. The United States has so far led diplomatic efforts to secure a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia.
Several European leaders have also resisted moves by Britain, France and Germany, collectively known as the E3, to take the lead in any European dialogue with Moscow.
“President Zelenskyy has called on Europe to take a more active role in building the conditions for facilitating peace negotiations”, an EU official said.
“For the past few weeks, President Costa has been coordinating closely with European leaders on possible engagement with Russia and the issues to be discussed when the right moment comes.”
According to Euractiv, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned that opening talks with Russia could be a “trap”.
Meloni Pushes for Single EU Envoy
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday renewed her call for a single EU envoy to handle contacts with Russia over Ukraine.
Speaking after the G7 summit in France, she warned that too many competing diplomatic initiatives risked causing confusion and said the bloc needed to speak with one voice in its dealings with Moscow.
“It would be very difficult to put forward someone from one of the largest European countries”, she told reporters.
“In my view, proposing one of those candidates would make an agreement harder to reach, so I would look instead to the EU’s medium-sized powers.”
French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump and the other leaders at the summit had acknowledged that Russia did not want peace in Ukraine. He described the development as a “real shift in the United States’ approach” to the war.
Trump Spoke with Putin and Zelensky
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he had held good talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the G7 summit.
Zelensky and his European allies arrived in the French spa town of Evian-les-Bains hoping to demonstrate that Ukraine’s battlefield position had improved following drone strikes deep inside Russia.
Asked whether he believed Putin bore greater responsibility for the war, Trump declined to comment.
“Well, I don’t want to comment on that, because I’m trying to get it settled, and that doesn’t make it easy.”
Trump also said he would consider Ukraine’s request to manufacture US missiles in Europe.
“They would like to be able to do that. We’ll take a look at it”, he said.
Russian Oil Waiver Expires
The US Treasury Department did not announce an extension on Wednesday of a waiver from sanctions on Russian seaborne oil, which expired at midnight.
The Trump administration did not immediately clarify whether the expiry meant that the sanctions would be reimposed.
Asked whether the measures would return, Trump told reporters: “We are looking at that, we’re seeing how far the price of oil comes down, it’s, it’s really tumbling.”
(Bloomberg, Reuters, Euractiv, Luc)
