“Some European governments are pressing the EU to appoint a negotiator to represent their interests on Ukraine, fearing that the US will make a deal with Russia behind their backs.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Source: Politico, “European Truth”
Details: Interlocutors of the publication note that supporters of this plan, in particular France and Italy, have secured the support of the European Commission and a number of other countries.
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They claim that Europe will be able to maintain its “red lines”, such as the possible future membership of Ukraine in NATO, only if the EU has a seat at the negotiating table.
The publication said the unprecedented move would mark a major shift in Europe’s approach to a series of bilateral talks hosted by US President Donald Trump, and comes as the continent seeks to demonstrate its willingness to play a major role in any settlement to end the four-year war.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney have joined forces in recent weeks to call for the opening of diplomatic channels with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and his inner circle, even as peace talks at the White House have stalled.
“In recent days, Macron has advocated that, given the bilateral negotiations between the Americans and the Russians, it is important to at least play some role in the discussion,” said a senior French official.
According to him, Maloney actively supported it.
“They are not naive about what can be achieved through these negotiations, but given the balance between non-intervention and intervention, there is a growing understanding in some capitals [переваг втручання]”, the interlocutor added.
European leaders first discussed the idea of a special envoy at an EU summit last March, a senior EU official confirmed. Despite widespread support, no decision was taken and the proposals were not included in the next joint statement.
The ambassador’s role would be narrowly focused on representing Brussels in negotiations together with Kyiv.
Officials confirmed that key aspects of the job – such as whether it will represent just the EU or the whole “coalition of the determined” including the UK and other countries – have yet to be decided. The same applies to diplomatic rank and the question of whether to formally appoint an official or informally delegate the role to a sitting national leader.
The four diplomats noted that Finnish President Alexander Stubb was often seen as a potential representative of Europe in any negotiations with Washington and Moscow.
Two EU officials stressed that the post of special envoy does not exist and that any talk of candidates is premature. Still, a third noted that “none of these positions exist until they come.”
On January 12, the chief spokeswoman of the European Commission, Paula Pinho, said that at a certain stage of the process of establishing peace in Ukraine, negotiations will take place with the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin. in which the EU will participate.
Before that, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Europe must find a way interact directly with the Russian leader. With this position agreed the Italian premiere of George Maloney.
In turn, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that does not object against direct negotiations of European states with Russia.