{"id":15355,"date":"2026-06-18T14:07:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/?p=15355"},"modified":"2026-06-18T14:07:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:07:47","slug":"european-council-opens-limited-contacts-with-russia-politico-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harici.com.tr\/en\/european-council-opens-limited-contacts-with-russia-politico-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"European Council opens limited contacts with Russia, Politico reports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Contacts between the European Council and Russia have begun<\/a><\/span>, according to Politico, although the recent exchanges were brief and did not cover \u201csubstantive issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

A member of European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa\u2019s team who participated in the discussions told the newspaper that the contacts reflected the reality that the European Union has \u201cconcrete interests that need to be protected.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor that reason, it is important to establish diplomatic channels with Russia,\u201d the official said.<\/p>\n

The same official added that Costa is acting in close coordination with European leaders regarding possible contacts with Russia and the issues that could be addressed at an appropriate time.<\/p>\n

The official also stressed that the European Union is not acting as a \u201cmediator\u201d between Ukraine and Russia.<\/p>\n

Another EU diplomat interviewed by Politico said the European Council does not have \u201ca mandate\u201d to conduct such contacts.<\/p>\n

Representatives of the European Council, spokespeople for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and a French official did not respond to Politico\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Two sources cited by Politico said the question of Europe\u2019s role in peace talks on Ukraine could be discussed at the European Union leaders\u2019 summit in Brussels on Thursday. However, the sources said no decision is expected on who would conduct such contacts.<\/p>\n

A day earlier, Bloomberg reported<\/a><\/span> that Costa\u2019s team was seeking to establish an informal communication channel with the Kremlin for a possible dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Sources cited by the agency claimed that Costa\u2019s chief adviser had held at least two phone calls with his Russian counterpart to lay the groundwork for broader discussions in the future.<\/p>\n

Speaking in May, Costa said<\/a><\/span> European Union member states had the \u201cpotential\u201d to engage in negotiations with Putin. He added that he had discussed the details of any future contact with the Russian leader with the heads of government of the EU\u2019s 27 member states.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Costa said the European Union did not want to obstruct talks being conducted by the United States and that they had seen no indication that Moscow was ready for dialogue with Brussels.<\/p>\n

During the same month, Putin said Russia remained open to talks with Europe. He suggested that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schr\u00f6der could be one of the interlocutors acceptable from Russia\u2019s perspective.<\/p>\n

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said last week that the time was not yet right for negotiations between Russia and the European Union.<\/p>\n

Kallas said the EU was preparing its 21st sanctions package in an effort to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.<\/p>\n

Shortly before that, Finnish President Alexander Stubb had also called<\/a><\/span> for Europe to take the initiative in launching discussions with Russia on a settlement process for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

The issue of Ukraine was also discussed at the G7 summit held in France from June 15 to 17. In addition to the G7 countries, leaders from Ukraine, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, India, South Korea, Kenya and Brazil attended the gathering. Participants discussed developing a common approach to ending the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contacts between the European Council and Russia have begun, according to Politico, although the recent exchanges were brief and did not cover \u201csubstantive issues.\u201d A member of European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa\u2019s team who participated in the discussions told the newspaper that the contacts reflected the reality that the European Union has \u201cconcrete interests that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19313,4363,5946,7546,15600,11002,10856,805,842,2320,10200,503,4362,1059,652,6907,683,19553,659,822,746,444],"class_list":["post-15355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-russia","tag-21st-sanctions-package","tag-antonio-costa","tag-bloomberg","tag-brussels","tag-diplomatic-channels","tag-eu-foreign-policy","tag-european-council","tag-european-union","tag-france","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-gerhard-schroder","tag-headline","tag-kaja-kallas","tag-kremlin","tag-peace-talks","tag-politico","tag-russia","tag-russia-eu-relations","tag-sanctions","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraine-war","tag-vladimir-putin"],"yoast_head":"\nEuropean Council opens limited contacts with Russia, Politico reports - 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