Baltic States Make U-Turn, Now Demand Talks with Russia
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina and Estonian President Alar Karis separately urged the bloc to designate a special envoy for reopening communication channels with Russian leadership during a Dubai summit Wednesday, according to the outlet.
The proposal has fractured major European powers. French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have endorsed the initiative, while German Chancellor Merz has flatly rejected it.
"We have to be at the negotiation table because Ukrainians themselves have started to negotiate. So why should Europeans not negotiate?" Silina told media.
"We should have a say as well, but you see, we are a bit late. We should have started it, maybe not [US] President [Donald] Trump, but maybe the European Union," the outlet quoted Karis as saying.
Washington has maintained direct negotiations with Moscow for nearly twelve months, while the EU—excluded from substantive discussions—has pursued a strategy centered on imposing economic sanctions against Russia while providing Ukraine with diplomatic, military, and financial support. Until this reversal, several member states, particularly the Baltic republics, consistently rejected any prospect of renewed Russian engagement.
The groundbreaking Moscow-Kiev-Washington negotiations in Abu Dhabi on January 23-24 marked the first trilateral discussions since February 2022. Participants characterized the talks as constructive, though no binding agreements emerged.
After those meetings, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas discouraged Europeans from pursuing direct re-engagement with the Kremlin, demanding that Moscow make concessions first. Russian officials have accused Kiev's European backers of hindering US-led peace efforts and of increasingly preparing for a direct war against Russia.
A second round of Russia-Ukraine-US talks convened in Abu Dhabi Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would not comment on the results.
Russia has insisted that while it prefers a diplomatic solution to the conflict, it is ready to achieve its goals through military means if talks fail.
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