Politico: Macron and Merz criticized the EU's position on negotiations with Putin at the summit
Kyiv • UNN
The President of France and the Chancellor of Germany criticized the EU for opening communication with Putin, which caused a confrontation with other leaders. The leaders of Estonia, Denmark and the Netherlands supported their position.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the EU for opening communication with Vladimir Putin, which put the leaders of Europe's two largest countries on a collision course with most of the rest of the bloc, Politico reports, writes UNN.
Details
At a surprisingly contentious overnight summit in Brussels — the first since 2010 without longtime opponent, former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — the French president and German chancellor criticized the efforts of European Council President António Costa, acting on behalf of all 27 governments, to reach out to the Kremlin, according to five EU diplomats and officials briefed on the closed-door conversation. Notably, other leaders sided with Costa.
These clashes reveal tensions at the heart of the EU over its approach to Russia and who should speak on behalf of Europe.
Leaders of some of the most staunchly anti-Russia countries, as well as Denmark and the Netherlands, rallied in support of Macron and Merz, "some of them expressing unprecedented anger towards Costa," three officials said.
"The European Union cannot take on the role of mediator in these negotiations," said Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal to the publication. "- The assumption about the need for alternative channels or behind-the-scenes diplomatic paths is wrong… History clearly warns against attempts to seek alternative negotiation frameworks with dictators."
The EU has been debating for months what type of communication, if any, it should have with Putin, and if so, who should lead it. The urgency of this issue increased after US President Donald Trump concluded his preliminary peace deal with Iran and made clear at the G7 summit in France earlier this week that his attention is turning back to Ukraine.
Five officials said that Costa's chief of staff, Pedro Lourtie, contacted officials in Moscow twice over the past few weeks. "As US attempts to end Russia's war against Ukraine appear to have reached an impasse, European capitals are divided over what to prioritize: diplomacy or helping Ukraine win on the battlefield," the publication writes.
The discussion on Russia and Ukraine on Thursday evening, which took place without aides and even mobile phones due to the sensitivity of the issue and lasted two hours longer than planned, revealed the emergence of two main camps, the publication writes.
Macron and Merz's position is that it is not yet time to talk to Putin, and when that moment comes, the E3 consisting of France, Germany, and Great Britain should take the lead.
"I think the president [of France] dotted all the i's and sorted out the situation," said a French government official, making it clear that Macron expressed his opinion to Costa during the summit.
Other leaders — "a huge number," according to one official from an EU country — took the opposite position, stating that it is the EU's role, and supported Costa.
"The first question is whether Putin wants to negotiate. Until then… no one except Costa can represent the European Union," said Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever to the publication after the talks concluded. "If he [Putin] shows willingness to negotiate, then, I believe, we will have to decide again how to proceed."
The summit on Thursday evening revealed several disagreements: besides the rift between Costa and the E3, Italy and Poland (which together form an informal "E5") were frustrated by their exclusion from the initial talks between the E3 and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the summit, two officials said. Other EU officials questioned why the European Council should take responsibility on behalf of the bloc, rather than the European Commission or the External Action Service, the EU's foreign policy arm.
According to a diplomat from a large European country familiar with the discussion, Merz's message to his fellow leaders was that while Costa represents the EU, he should not act as a mediator. Although Merz wanted to avoid an open conflict with Costa at the summit table, he made this clear to him "in other ways," according to the diplomat.
Costa was "extremely unprofessional," the diplomat said, amid how he concealed the extent of his contacts with Russia, which only became clear from media reports on Wednesday.
Some countries were "furious" about the outreach to Russia, according to a European diplomat working on the issue. Several leaders only learned about the calls after they appeared in the media and were outraged by it, another three diplomats reported.
Costa's team stated that the contacts "had only the purpose of establishing a communication channel so that, when the moment comes, to have a diplomatic channel with Russia to protect EU interests," adding that they were "brief" and contained nothing substantive.
Costa's cabinet informed Germany, France, and Great Britain, as well as the European Commission, before the calls took place, one of the diplomats said. However, three other diplomats stated that Berlin was not warned.
For negotiations with Moscow to work, "we need a system of mandates and debriefing," another EU diplomat said.
The Portuguese Lourtie, who has a reputation in Brussels as a kind of dealmaker, addressed the ambassadors of the 27 EU governments on Wednesday when the news of the calls, first reported by Bloomberg, became public. Complaining that the reports had reached the media, he justified them, stating they occurred at the direct request of Zelenskyy for Europe to engage in peace negotiations, according to another EU diplomat familiar with the meeting.
"We need a format capable of taking action," said a senior German official, adding that such a format would gain its "legitimacy" through "the closest and most trusting involvement of other European partners," as well as close coordination with Kyiv and Washington.
Poland and Italy also insisted on participating in the talks. Merz is hosting Macron and the prime ministers of Great Britain, Poland, and Italy in Berlin on Wednesday; the leaders' discussions, according to diplomats, will likely include the issue of dialogue with Russia.