By Andrew Gray and Lili Bayer
BRUSSELS, May 11 (Reuters) – European governments on Monday rejected suggestion by Russian President Vladimir Putin that German former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could represent them in possible future talks with Moscow on the continent’s security.
Putin said on Saturday he believed the war in Ukraine was coming to an end and that he would be willing to negotiate new security arrangements for Europe, with Schroeder as his preferred partner.
But European Union foreign ministers, arriving for a meeting in Brussels, voiced scepticism that Russia was ready to end the war and negotiate sincerely on peace and security for Europe.
They dismissed any role for Schroeder, who has worked for Russian state companies and cultivated a close relationship with Putin.
“It’s clear why Putin wants him to be the person – so that actually … he would be sitting on both sides of the table,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters.
“If we give the right to Russia to appoint a negotiator on our behalf … that would not be very wise.”
Germany’s Europe minister, Gunther Krichbaum, said Schroeder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, did not have the credentials to be an “honest broker”.
“He is, and certainly has been, heavily influenced by Mr Putin. Close friendships may be legitimate anywhere in the world, but they do not help one to be perceived as an impartial mediator,” Krichbaum said.
EU HAS POLICY OF ISOLATING RUSSIA, BUT SOME WANT TALKS
The EU has pursued a policy of isolating Russia since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It has imposed sanctions and had few high-level political and diplomatic contacts with Russia.
But with U.S.-led talks to end the conflict making little progress as Washington focuses on the war in Iran, some European officials have urged the EU to consider direct discussions with Moscow, possibly led by a special envoy.
European Council President Antonio Costa said last week he was talking to other EU leaders “to organise ourselves and to identify what we need” to talk to Russia when “the right moment” comes.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the EU could be involved in talks that would be “complementary” to the U.S.-led negotiations, but gave no further details.
“We could talk about (a) new role of Europe,” he told reporters in Brussels. “We have mainstream peace talks under the leadership of the U.S.A. and we need this track … but Europe could play also its role.”
Kallas and several ministers said the EU should first increase pressure on Russia and agree what it wants from any talks before contemplating discussions or picking a representative.
“It’s not about choosing someone,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys. “We should get to the basics and the basics is to get our tools ready to pressure Russia.”
Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger said it was time for the EU to become more actively involved in talks with Russia and nominate a negotiating team.
“But we will decide that – Russia won’t decide it,” she said.
(Reporting by Andrew Gray, Lili Bayer, Friederike Heine, Cristina Carlevaro, Anna Pruchnicka and Sudip Kar-Gupta, Writing by Andrew Gray, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
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