European Commission signals openness to future dialogue with Putin on Russia Ukraine war

The European Commission has publicly expressed the prospect of maintaining direct dialogue with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine, but has emphasized that this can not happen at the present time due to the ongoing military efforts by Moscow. The comments represent a significant change of tone of the Commission which has, to this point, concentrated on isolating the Kremlin with sanctions and diplomatic pressure. On Monday, Paula Pinho, the chief spokesperson of the European Commission, told that the institution is doing its best to achieve peace in Ukraine but it remains true that progress will be made in the end, based on the decisions made in Moscow. The peace in Ukraine is on the shoulders of one individual. That is President Putin, as you are quite aware, Pinho, said. She further mentioned that she would have to engage in face-to-face negotiations with Putin at one point in time in case a permanent resolution were to be reached. Nonetheless, she observed that no signs that the Russian president is ready to have meaningful dialogue have been manifested. Pinho emphasized that the Commission is yet to get to a point where negotiations can be made possible, citing the continued bombing campaign by Russia and its unwillingness to indicate that it is willing to negotiate. She said the EU is not yet witnessing any indications of President Putin to be having such talks, and therefore, she said they were yet to see that. Pinho refused to comment when questioned on whether European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ought to make the first contact with Putin. Rather, she repeated that the Commission would be happier to have Putin consent to a face-to-face meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which the Russian leader has repeatedly declined. Pinho emphasized that the absence of such a meeting does not lie on the side of Ukraine, though Zelenskyy has always shown willingness to hold a direct meeting. The remarks are only a few days after the French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly declared in favor of reopening dialogue with Moscow. Macron, who had just hosted a gathering of the so-called Coalition of the Willing in Paris, added that contact with Putin should be restored as soon as possible. He has already suggested that face-to-face communication with the Russian president might prove handy and cut back on the role played by the United States as a mediator in Europe. On Friday, Meloni repeated the stance of Macron by stating that Europe needed to start talking to Russia. She cautioned that the EU may not be able to play a positive role in negotiations in case it only interacts with one party in the war. The Italian prime minister proposed that a special EU envoy should head negotiations on behalf of all 27 member states and warned that a divided strategy was unwise. Meloni suggested that the lack of organization and various competing voices might end up playing into the favor of Putin, an issue that she claimed the EU has been facing since the war broke out.