Senior European Council official opens communication channel with Kremlin

A member of European Council President António Costa’s cabinet reached out to open a channel of communication with the Kremlin, an EU official told POLITICO.

The direct outreach — a break with a de facto EU policy of not speaking directly to Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — comes as European leaders debate opening direct talks with Moscow about ending the war.

The contacts, which the official said happened in recent weeks, were described as brief and unrelated to “substance,” but reflective of the fact that the EU has “specific interests that will need to be defended.”

“Therefore it is important to have established diplomatic channels with Russia,” the official said. They were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive diplomacy. The contacts with Moscow were first reported by Bloomberg.

While individual EU leaders have had direct contacts with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent months — and a trio of French, British and German ambassadors met with Russia’s deputy foreign minister in Moscow earlier in June — there has been no concerted or official effort backed by the European Union or a majority of EU capitals.

Costa had been “coordinating closely with European leaders on possible engagement with Russia and the issues to be discussed when the right moment comes,” said the official, who added that the EU “is not a mediator” between Ukraine and Russia.

Asked about the outreach effort, one EU diplomat said that the European Council “doesn’t have a mandate to do that.” A Council spokesperson declined to comment, as did representatives for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and a French official.

Talk of Europe entering Russia-Ukraine negotiations has heated up since Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged EU leaders to take a more active role in peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow during a gathering in Cyprus last month.

The Ukrainian leader argued that the EU should step forward given that the United States has stepped back from the efforts, diplomats aware of his remarks during an informal gathering of EU leaders told POLITICO. His foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, has said the EU should play a role in talks alongside the United States.

Calls for direct talks have prompted debate among the bloc’s 27 member countries about who, if anyone, should represent the EU. Poland and Baltic countries have pushed back on these efforts, arguing that direct talks could undermine pressure on Moscow, while French President Emmanuel Macron has backed the talks.

A senior EU diplomat from a Nordic country described the effort to make contact as “delusional.”

“It’s surprising how much willingness some EU leaders have to make the same mistakes, to be proven wrong, to get nothing of each and every attempt ‘to talk to Russia’ and yet keep repeating the same exercise,” the diplomat said.

At a G7 conference in Evian-les-Bains, France, U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would resume its interest in Ukraine-Russia talks after his administration struck a framework ceasefire agreement with Iran.

At the conference, Macron praised U.S. efforts to end Russia’s war, while adding that such initiatives have so far not delivered results. “President Trump has, like us, just recognized that there is no serious desire from Russia to bring peace.”

The matter of Europe’s role in peace talks is likely to come up during a gathering of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday, but with no decision expected on who should lead them, according to two EU diplomats.

Hans von der Burchard, Clea Caulcutt, Gabriel Gavin and Jacopo Barigazzi contributed reporting. This article has been updated.