Macron, Meloni, and Merz have all seemingly realized that they\u2019ll have to talk to Putin sooner or later<\/p>\n
Western European leaders who have spent the last four years flooding Ukraine with every tank, shell, and missile they could get their hands on came out this week in favor of diplomacy and peaceful coexistence with Russia. Was this week a turning point, or just a brief moment of sobriety on the continent?
\nWhat did Macron say?<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
G7 should not be an anti-BRICS group \u2013 Macron<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron led the charge, declaring last month that \u201cit\u2019s in our interest as Europeans and Ukrainians to find the right framework to re-engage\u201d with Moscow. Europeans, he added, should do so \u201cin coming weeks.\u201d
\nMacron spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin several times by phone in the weeks before Russia\u2019s special military operation in Ukraine began in 2022. Contact resumed with a phone call last July, although both leaders simply reiterated their opposing views: Macron urging Putin to accept a ceasefire in Ukraine, and Putin \u2013 who views a ceasefire as a ruse to rearm and refit the Ukrainian military \u2013 insisting that any settlement must be \u201ccomprehensive and long-term, and provide for the elimination of the root causes of the Ukraine crisis.\u201d
\nDoes Meloni agree?<\/p>\n
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Time for EU to talk to Russia \u2013 Meloni<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Macron is right on this. I believe the time has come for Europe to also speak with Russia,\u201d Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said last Friday. \u201cBecause if Europe decides to take part in this phase of negotiations by talking only to one of the two sides, I fear that in the end the positive contribution it can make will be limited.\u201d
\nAlthough an outspoken supporter of Ukraine, Meloni heads a coalition government that includes Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini\u2019s Lega party. Salvini has long called for talks with Putin, arguing last month that \u201cif Hitler and Napoleon failed with their campaigns to bring Moscow to its knees,\u201d so too would Ukraine and the EU.
\nMerz joins the chorus<\/p>\n
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Germany\u2019s Merz changes stance on Russia<\/p>\n
Two days after declaring that Germany \u201cwill accept responsibility for the security of Ukraine,\u201d Chancellor Friedrich Merz came out last week and said that \u201cthe whole thing,\u201d meaning a peace agreement in Ukraine, \u201cjust doesn\u2019t work without Russia\u2019s consent.\u201d
\nThen on Wednesday, Merz told an economic conference that the EU should \u201cfind a balance again with our largest European neighbor,\u201d and that \u201cif there is peace\u2026 then we can look ahead with great confidence beyond the year 2026.\u201d
\nThis is the same Friedrich Merz who pushed all last year for the confiscation of Russia\u2019s frozen sovereign assets, and boasted of providing Ukraine with \u201clong-range fire\u201d systems.
\nWhy are the Europeans changing their position now?<\/p>\n
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EU admits it will have to talk with Putin<\/p>\n
Macron and Meloni have both pushed the EU to appoint an envoy to negotiate directly with Putin. Although EU officials have not revealed whether they plan to appoint such a figure, European Commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho stated on Monday that \u201cobviously, at some point, there will have to be talks also with President Putin.\u201d
\nWhat European leaders truly fear, Politico reported on Wednesday, is getting left on the sidelines while US President Donald Trump and his envoy, Steve Witkoff, forge ahead and strike a deal with Russia without their involvement.
\nMacron has confirmed this. If Europe doesn\u2019t secure a place at the table, \u201cwe will be talking amongst ourselves\u201d while the Americans \u201cwill then go alone to talk with the Russians,\u201d Macron told Le Figaro last month. Meloni noted this week that there are currently \u201ctoo many voices\u201d speaking for Europe, arguing that a single point of contact would simplify talks with Russia.
\nWhat do the Russians think?<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Why are EU leaders suddenly being nice to Russia?<\/p>\n
Moscow welcomes the \u201cpositive shift\u201d in statements from Europe, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.\u00a0
\n\u201cSurprising as it may seem,\u201d the views expressed in the statements are \u201centirely consistent\u201d with Moscow\u2019s perspective, he said, pointing out that the Europeans previously issued \u201cutopian statements\u201d calling for \u201ca crushing defeat of Russia.\u201d
\nIf the latest remarks \u201ctruly reflect the strategic vision of the Europeans, then it represents a positive evolution in their position,\u201d he added.
\nSpeaking as he received newly appointed foreign ambassadors at the Kremlin on Thursday, Putin said that Russia \u201cis ready to restore the level of relations we require\u201d with Europe.\u00a0
\n\u201cOne would like to believe that, over time, the situation will nonetheless change, and our states will return to normal, constructive dialogue,\u201d he said, cautioning that this would only happen when \u201crespect for [Russia\u2019s] national interests and consideration of legitimate security concerns\u201d are met.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Macron, Meloni, and Merz have all seemingly realized that they\u2019ll have to talk to Putin sooner or later Western European leaders who have spent the last four years flooding Ukraine…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mongolianews.mn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}