Zelenskyy, Macron and Putin, December 2019
It depends on who answers. Europe does not agree on the possible return to direct contacts with the Kremlin.
The 27 don’t understand each other. Within the scope of recent discussions on the end of , the possibility of European Union establish direct contacts with the Kremlin.
But the European countries do not agree with each otherthere is no consensus on the approach to be taken: some in favor, others against and the majority abstains.
Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melons They were the most prominent leaders who wanted to resume talks with the Russian Government in January.
He reinforces that, for the leaders of France and Italy, the European Union must always be present in negotiations – something that did not happen in recent conversations between Russia, Ukraine and the USA.
“I believe that The time has come for Europe to also talk to Russia“, commented Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy.
And Meloni reinforced: “If Europe decides to participate in this phase of the negotiations by speaking only with one of the two sides, I fear that, in the end, the positive contribution it can make will be limited”.
The idea was to avoid having “too many voices speaking” across Europe; that is, the idea would be to have a special envoy representing all European Union countries.
Who supports: Austria, Czech Republic and Luxembourg. They believe that a united and present Europe would be beneficial for Ukraine.
Who is clearly against: Germany, Estonia, Lithuania and Cyprus. They see no real intention of Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
From Sweden, comes a prediction from Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson: “at some point”, Europe will end up talking directly to the Russian Government.
Kaja Kallas, head of European Union diplomacy, left another perspective: “If the Russians think they are achieving their maximum goals with the Americans, why would they want to talk to the Europeans?”
