The appointment of a specific negotiator is now considered inappropriate by both the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and leading EU countries, including Germany.
“We need to agree on what exactly we want to talk to Russia about,” the Latvian portal Delfi quoted an EU official as saying .This was reported on Thursday, May 28, by the dpa news agency, citing senior EU officials.
Russia will face a new package of sanctions
Brussels is convinced that sanctions pressure will help to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. On May 28, the European Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) will present a draft of the 21st package of sanctions against Russia at closed consultations. It is expected to affect the financial sector and Russian defense industry suppliers.
The EU has recently been actively discussing whether the EU should appoint a special representative for possible negotiations with Russia. Among the candidates for this role were former European Central Bank (ECB) Chairman Mario Draghi, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that he would prefer to see former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as the EU negotiator. However, both the current German government and EU representatives excluded the politician considered close to Putin from the list of possible candidates.
“We Europeans decide for ourselves who speaks in our name. No one else,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
