European Council President Antonio Costa said the EU has the "potential" to hold such talks and has the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I’m talking with the [EU’s] 27 national leaders to see the best way to organize ourselves and to identify what we need effectively to discuss with Russia when it comes the right moment to do this,” he said.
At the recent EU summit in Cyprus, Zelenskyy urged Europeans to "be ready to make a constructive contribution to talks." Costa added that Moscow has so far shown no sign of willingness to engage in constructive dialogue.
Zelenskyy’s confirmed to FT that the issue has been discussed with Costa. Ukrainian officials have stressed the need for better coordination at the EU level and suggested the possibility of appointing a single representative to negotiate with Russia on behalf of the bloc to increase pressure on the Kremlin.
Some European leaders, including Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever, have expressed willingness to open a channel to the Kremlin. But among the 27 EU countries there is no consensus yet on who would represent the bloc, when talks should begin or what proposals should be put to Putin, the FT reported.
The Kremlin previously said it would re-engage in trilateral
Ukraine–U.S.–Russia talks only after Kyiv withdraws its troops from Donetsk
Oblast.