Negotiations with Russia? “Europe to know clearly what it wants”

O President of France today argued that the European Union should “know clearly what it wants” in possible negotiations with Russia before choosing a representative, considering that the “content should determine the format”.

“Europe must first of all know clearly what it wants. Today, Europe is very clear about its support for Ukraine. We must now clarify and define our own peace project, as well as what should be a future security architecture project,” Emmanuel Macron said in statements to journalists at the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Dublin.

The French President was answering a question about who he thinks should represent the European Union (EU) in possible negotiations with Russia, a subject which will be discussed this Friday by the Heads of State and Government of the bloc at an informal summit, also in Dublin.

Before journalists, Macron insisted that the EU needs “a clear and united vision of what it wants for Ukraine and for itself”.

“ I think the content determines the format,” he said, refusing the idea that the EU actually participated in negotiations between Ukrainians and Russians, mediated by the United States, which took place this week in Abu Dhabi.

“There were representatives from various countries and European institutions in Abu Dhabi, but this was a coordination work preparatory to a dialogue between American and Russian envoys,” he said.

Macron thus challenged the EU to “retake the initiative to open talks with Russia as Europeans”, stressing that it is only then that “the format” in which these negotiations will take place will be defined.

“ The question is not whether one or the other [leader] is present. What matters is to understand why. We must identify what concrete proposals are [on what we want], because they determine the formats. Otherwise, each one will eventually defend a format in which it is included”, he stressed.

The question of who will represent the EU in possible negotiations with Russia was addressed by the majority of the leaders who spoke to journalists on arrival at the EPC summit, with several suggesting that the choice should be made by the President of the European Council, António Costa.

This was the case of the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden, who argued that there is “a natural personality”.

“He is the President of the European Council. For this reason, I support President Costa’s participation in these conversations,” Frieden stressed, however, that “the message is more important than the person.”.

“ And the message is clear: we support Ukraine and the principles of the United Nations Charter, which are sovereignty, territorial integrity and respect for international law,” he said.

Latvia's Prime Minister, Andris Kulbergs, refused to comment on who he thinks should represent the EU in the negotiations with Russia before the leaders of the bloc discuss it on Friday, but also suggested that Costa is one of the favorites.

“ Officially, if we look at our architecture, this role is up to António Costa. He is one of Europe’s official representatives today, but we are going to have a discussion on the subject,” he said, despite considering that pressure for the EU to choose a representative is a Russian “false maneuver” to try to divert the block from supporting Ukraine.

In turn, Irish chief executive Micheal Martin, host of the European Political Community Summit (EPC), stressed that the EU does not need to be “necessarily represented by a person” in negotiations with Russia.

“ But there must be clear and coherent leadership of the EU at the negotiating table. There are some obvious candidates, I will not speculate on what they are, except to say that there is clearly a need for us to have a coherent voice, agreed by the 27 Member States, about who the EU should represent in these talks,” he stressed.