Germany, France and Britain drafting plan to draw Putin into talks
Officials from Germany, France, and Britain are working on a plan to draw Russia into peace talks, believing Ukraine’s position has strengthened, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.
According to the report, German, French and British officials are discussing the possibility of talks involving both sides and are coordinating those discussions with Ukrainian counterparts.
The countries see a possible opening to bring Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table because of Russia’s battlefield losses, continued Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian infrastructure and some resistance to the war inside Russia, Bloomberg’s sources said.
The allies are working on the plan now because they want to avoid another wartime winter for Ukraine, when Putin and Russian forces would likely continue striking critical infrastructure and civilians, the report said.
Bloomberg said the countries agreed that any final decision on whether to pursue negotiations with Putin would rest with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and that European governments would not pressure him to accept terms he does not support.
At the same time, some officials in those European countries believe this is not the right moment to talk about negotiations with Russia because Putin has shown no serious willingness to negotiate. Instead, they say Europe should keep increasing pressure on the Kremlin and provide Ukraine with all the weapons it needs.
“European nations shouldn’t be the side petitioning Putin to talk but it should be the other way round given Russia’s increasing economic struggles and staggering monthly casualty rates,” some European officials told Bloomberg.
Europe and possible talks with Russia
The Financial Times previously reported that European Union leaders are preparing for possible negotiations with Putin over the war in Ukraine, as President Donald Trump has so far failed to secure progress.
European Council President Antonio Costa said Europe needs “a leader who could speak with Russia on behalf of all Europeans” in order to apply “greater pressure” on Moscow.
Politico later reported that the European Union was considering former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Finnish President Alexander Stubb as possible negotiators.
Zelenskyy has also said that Europe at peace talks on ending Russia’s war against Ukraine could be represented by the E3 countries — Britain, France and Germany. Other possible representatives, he said, could include Türkiye or countries from Northern Europe.