The European Commission stated that they will select a candidate from the European Union to serve as a representative to participate in peace negotiations to end the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine only when the Russian authorities are ready for them.
This was stated by the European Commission's chief spokeswoman, Paula Pinho, at a briefing in response to a question from a Suspilny correspondent.
“We don't see any signals from President (Vladimir – ed.) Putin that he really wants peace, so it would be great to have a discussion about envoys when the time is right and when we see a real willingness for peace from Russia,” she explained.
Pinho also reported that on May 25, the head of the Ukrainian negotiating delegation and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov, was in Brussels and met with Bjorn Seibert, head of the office of EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
“This is part of our regular contacts with Ukraine at all levels. Of course, it was about cooperation in the field of defense, in particular in view of the recent (Russian – ed.) attacks,” the EC spokeswoman added.
On May 24, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that, if necessary, he was ready to represent the European bloc in the negotiation track with the Russian side regarding the end of the war in Ukraine.
What preceded this?
Politico previously reported that the EU is allegedly considering the candidacies of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb as negotiators for the bloc in the peace process to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
On May 11, European Foreign Minister Kaia Kallas spoke out against former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder serving as an EU mediator in the negotiation process regarding Russia's war against Ukraine, as proposed by Putin.
“Gerhard Schroeder was a high-ranking lobbyist for Russian state-owned companies. So it's understandable why Putin wants him to be this person, so that he can actually, you know, sit on both sides of the negotiating table,” DW quoted her as saying.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga also stated that Kyiv does not support Schroeder's candidacy, noting that in Europe “there are many worthy leaders” to play the role of mediator in the negotiation process.
On May 19, it became known that former German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on European Union leaders to engage in direct negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. At the same time, she rejected the idea of her mediation in this diplomatic track with Moscow.