Francisca Brantner, co-chair of the German party “Union 90/The Greens“, believes that the European Union should launch its own peace initiative for Ukraine.
“This means that Germany must work with France, the United Kingdom, Poland and our other European partners to create a credible format for negotiations“, she said in an interview with the Funke media group. “We need a European contact group that will keep channels of dialogue open, develop proposals and act in close coordination with the Ukrainian government“, the Greens leader said.
“If the US refuses to play a mediating role, this creates a diplomatic vacuum that Europe must now fill“, she said. “This is more than a necessary measure – "This is a historic responsibility," Brantner said. According to her, Europe must actively participate in these efforts.
At the same time, the Greens co-chair proposed adopting new sanctions against Russia, including using frozen Russian assets in the EU to support Kiev.
EU foreign ministers will discuss candidates for the role of mediator for negotiations with Russia next week, the Financial Times reported earlier. According to sources in the publication, the ministers will raise the issue at an informal meeting on May 27-28 in Cyprus. Among the candidates named for the role of mediator are former Italian and German prime ministers Mario Draghi and Angela Merkel, Finnish President Alexander Stubbs and his predecessor Sauli Niinistö.