Leaders of Latvia and Estonia propose direct negotiations with Russia

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina and Estonian President Alar Karis said in separate interviews with the Brussels-based Euronews portal that the EU should appoint a special envoy for negotiations with Russia and open diplomatic channels with the country, as part of ongoing negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

It is reported that this represents a significant shift in European strategic thinking around Russia after the EU was excluded from direct talks in the US-led peace negotiations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week that work had already begun "at a technical level" on the appointment of a special envoy, a move supported by Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.

The idea first emerged this summer, but was deemed inappropriate by most EU leaders at the time.

Silina and Karis said that any communication with Russia should be done in consultation with Ukraine and suggested that the envoy, who has yet to be named, should be a figure around whom there is consensus.

Silina told Euronews on the sidelines of the World Government Summit in Dubai that engagement in diplomacy is needed, that talks are needed, but also that sanctions against Russia should be maintained.

"We need to be at the negotiating table because the Ukrainians themselves have started negotiating. So why shouldn't the Europeans negotiate," the Prime Minister said.

She pointed to Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as potential European representatives.

Merz, unlike Macron, opposes direct negotiations.

Silina added that an envoy is indeed needed and that the question is who it could be. She also said that she is ready for it but that it would probably be better if it were the leaders of Germany or France, as well as Britain, which are members of the Coalition of the Willing.

The Estonian president refrained from naming names but stressed that the envoy should come from a large European country that enjoys "credibility on both sides."

"The EU needs to be involved. Even though we are not fighting Russia directly, we have been supporting Ukraine for years and we will continue to do so," Karis told Euronews in Dubai. He added that the EU was "a little late" and that perhaps it, not US President Donald Trump, should have started looking for diplomatic solutions.

"A few years ago we were in a position where we were not talking to the aggressors, and now we are worried that we are not at the negotiating table," Karis said.

The issue of reopening diplomatic channels with Russia, which have been largely closed since February 2022, has been raised in recent weeks as the pace of US-led negotiations progresses and security guarantees for Ukraine are being fleshed out.

France, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic are among the countries that support the idea of ​​launching direct negotiations to avoid dependence on the White House, which is currently Moscow's main interlocutor.

Germany, on the other hand, is against it, pointing out that Russian President Vladimir Putin's "maximalist demands" and the continued bombing of Ukrainian cities indicate that the Kremlin lacks "genuine willingness to negotiate."

While Estonia's president, who has a largely ceremonial role, advocates direct negotiations, the country's foreign ministry is against re-engaging with Russia.

"Until Russia changes its actions and goals of aggression against Ukraine, it is not possible to engage in negotiations with that country, nor can we offer it a way out of isolation," the Estonian ministry said in a statement provided to Euronews.

"We must not repeat the mistakes we have made time and again by restoring relations when Russia has not changed course," the statement said.