Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silinja
The EU should appoint a special envoy to reopen diplomatic channels with Russia as part of talks to end the war in Ukraine, the Latvian prime minister and the Estonian president said in separate interviews with Euronews.
Their comments reflect a major shift in Europe’s strategic thinking toward Russia after the EU was left out of direct U.S.-led negotiations.
French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week that work on appointing a special envoy had already begun “at a technical level.” That call was echoed by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The idea was first floated last summer, but most leaders considered it impractical at the time.
Candidates for envoys
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silinja and Estonian President Alar Karis said that any communication with Russia should be done in consultation with Ukraine. And they suggested that the interlocutor, who has yet to be appointed, should be a consensus figure.
Silinya named French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as potential European representatives. True, unlike Macron, Merz is strongly opposed to direct negotiations.
“I am ready to go if necessary, but I think that European leaders from Germany or France, as well as the United Kingdom, which is a member of the “Coalition of the Resolute”, should be the ones at the table together with the Americans, helping Ukraine in these tough negotiations,” Silinya added.
Estonian President Karis did not name names, but emphasized that the chosen envoy should be a representative of a major European country and enjoy “credibility on both sides”.
“The European Union should also be involved in these discussions. Although we are not at war with Russia directly, we have been supporting Ukraine for many years and continue to do so,” Karis told Euronews. – We should have a say too. But, as you can see, a bit late. We should have started this, maybe not President Trump, but the European Union, to also start looking for diplomatic solutions. A couple of years ago we were in the position of not talking to aggressors, and now we are worried that we are not there.”
France, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic supported the idea of starting direct talks so as not to depend on the White House, which is now Moscow’s main interlocutor.
Germany, on the other hand, rejected it, citing Putin’s “maximalist demands” and the continued shelling of Ukrainian cities.
