Several leaders who arrived at the EU summit in Brussels said there was no point in rushing into talks with Russia.
These remarks were made after an EU official announced on Wednesday that the office of European Council President Antonio Costa had had “brief contacts at diplomatic level” with the Kremlin.
“First of all, there has to be someone on the other side willing for peace,” Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said. “Unfortunately no one wants peace on that side … there is no point for contact if the other party (Russia) doesn’t want (peace).”
“It is much better to step in if we see some positive signals from Russia, showing that Russia is willing to start the peace negotiations, or they are willing for a ceasefire,” Lithuania‘s President Gitanas Nauseda told reporters. “So far I do not see any positive signals from Russia, so my question is what we want to achieve.”
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten also said that Russia was not showing any willingness to negotiate, adding that he did not believe peace talks could start soon.
“We do not have that impression at all from the Netherlands. We see that the Russians have not shown any serious interest recently,” he said.
Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said he wanted to keep the lines of communication open, no matter the level. However, even he was skeptical about Moscow’s willingness to discuss peace.
“I do not have the impression that Russia, and President Putin in particular, is coming to the negotiating table to negotiate a peace solution,” Stocker said.
Earlier this week, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed the idea of a single EU envoy to handle negotiations with Russia regarding Ukraine.
