European Union leaders reacted in different ways to the attempt by European Council President Antonio Costa to open diplomatic channels with Russia with a view to possible peace talks, DPA reported, BTA reported.
Sources from the German government described the initiative yesterday as an "insult" after a discussion between EU leaders in Brussels. According to them, the move was "uncoordinated" and "unprofessional."
Others warned that the time was not right for dialogue with Russia, while some welcomed the initiative.
„So far, we have not seen any real willingness on the part of Putin to enter into serious negotiations. "That's where it all starts," said Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jeten.
"We are, of course, ready and open to supporting any attempt that can be made to achieve peace and end the war in Ukraine," said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker expressed a similar position. "I have always said that I am for dialogue, for opening channels of communication, because every peace begins with dialogue," he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is attending the EU summit as a guest, said he did not know many details about the diplomatic contact.
An EU official confirmed media reports that there had been brief contacts at the diplomatic level in recent weeks aimed at establishing channels of communication with Moscow, but no real talks had taken place.
Diplomatic relations between Brussels and Moscow have been highly strained since Russia first occupied parts of Ukraine in 2014, and have been frozen since the start of a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022.
A joint statement said EU leaders supported diplomatic efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine and stressed the readiness of The EU should strengthen its engagement in this regard.
“Europe has a key role in a future settlement and stands ready to defend its interests“, the declaration said.
EU leaders call on “Russia to show genuine readiness for peace, to agree to a full, unconditional and immediate ceasefire and to engage in meaningful negotiations for a just and lasting peace“.
Zelensky joined leaders for a briefing on the situation on the battlefield after returning to Brussels for the first time since his most prominent EU opponent, former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, was ousted from power earlier this year.
Ukraine received a fresh wave of EU support after Budapest lifted its veto on several initiatives – from the opening of formal accession talks to the approval of a 90 billion euro ($104.5 billion) loan for Kiev.
All 27 EU leaders meeting in Brussels also unanimously adopted a joint statement in support of Ukraine for the first time in more than a year and agreed to extend economic sanctions against Russia by 12 months instead of 6 months.
On economic issues, leaders discussed some of the most pressing challenges facing the EU, including the bloc's weakening competitiveness and broader global issues, such as the EU's difficult trade relations with China.
But European Council participants yesterday lowered expectations for Ukraine's rapid accession to the bloc and reaffirmed that any enlargement must be based on merit, as the 27 unanimously agreed for the first time in more than a year, the EFE noted.
In a text of conclusions approved on the first day of the meeting At the Brussels summit, leaders welcomed the opening last Monday of the first block of formal accession negotiations with Ukraine and said they “look forward to the opening of the remaining thematic blocks in line with the merit-based approach”.
However, a previous draft of the conclusions had stressed the opening of the remaining negotiating blocks “as soon as possible”.
Member states have thus cooled the possibility of continuing to open the remaining “clusters” in order to make progress on Ukraine’s accession in the summer, as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said upon their arrival at the EU summit, EFE added.
Today, EU leaders are due to turn their attention to the bloc’s next long-term budget for the period 2028-2034, which is currently expected to be in range from 1 trillion to 2 trillion euros.