EU will not appoint a Russia envoy for the time being

War in Ukraine

EU will not appoint a Russia envoy for the time being

Could former Chancellor Merkel become the EU’s Russia envoy – or Finnish President Stubb? There has been a lot of speculation about this question recently. There are now warnings at a meeting of foreign ministers.

The EU will not appoint a chief negotiator for possible Ukraine peace talks with Russia for the time being. At an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Cyprus, leading member states such as Germany firmly rejected proposals in this direction. The EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also urgently warned supporters against further public discussions on the topic.

“It’s a trap that Russia wants to lure us into,” she said. The Russian tactic is to discuss who will speak to Russia and then Russia to select who is suitable and who is not.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and ex-ECB boss Mario Draghi have so far been mentioned as potential candidates for an EU special envoy job. Russian President Vladimir Putin also publicly mentioned the name of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. However, the 82-year-old is considered unemployable because of his closeness to the Kremlin chief.

According to Kallas’ wishes, strategy questions should now be discussed first instead of people. It is important to discuss what the EU’s core interests and central demands are, she explained at the ministerial meeting. In addition to Ukraine, it could also be about other things such as the Russian troop presence in Georgia or Moldova or Moscow’s interference in elections. “Of course this is a maximalist approach – but Russia’s approach has also represented maximalist demands so far,” she said.

European Minister of State Gunther Krichbaum, who traveled to Cyprus on behalf of the ill German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, also warned against having the wrong discussions. You have to be careful not to take the third step before the first, he said. The recent massive attacks on Ukraine showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin obviously has no interest in stopping the spiral of escalation. That is why the pressure on Russia must be increased further.

According to information from the German Press Agency, the EU Commission and the EU Foreign Service began presenting a proposal for what is now the 21st package of Russia sanctions to representatives of member states in confidential discussions this Thursday. The new punitive measures are intended to affect, among other things, the financial sector and suppliers to the defense industry.

The background to the current debate is that US President Donald Trump’s Ukraine peace initiative has not yet brought any tangible results and, because of the Iran conflict, no longer seems to be at the top of the agenda in Washington. Against this background, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj recently openly called for greater EU involvement. He explained that it might be worth clarifying who could theoretically represent Europe at the negotiating table. In addition, smaller EU states such as Austria have also spoken out in favor of appointing a special envoy or a negotiating team. The reason is that they fear that their interests will otherwise not be sufficiently respected.