Putin rejects EU mediation in Ukraine peace talks, pushes Schroeder as candidate

“How can the European Union or individual EU countries serve as mediators when they are directly assisting the country with which we are in an armed conflict?” Putin said.

“How can they be mediators? Mediation implies neutrality.”

Putin insisted that he’d allegedly reached an agreement with President Trump at their summit in Alaska. Putin cynically claimed that EU states could play a role in ending the war “not by supplying weapons, but by trying to convince the Kyiv authorities to agree to the compromises we are talking about”.

The Russian dictator reiterated that Europe can propose "people who can be trusted" in the peace talks, again raising the name of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Bloomberg reported on June 3 that Germany, France, and the U.K. have jointly developed plans with Kyiv to engage Russia in negotiations to end the war. The outlet added that officials from the three countries have already held private discussions with Ukraine on the issue.

European-led peace talks

In May, Vladimir Putin proposed involving pro-Russian former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder as an EU mediator in talks on ending the war, but Ukraine opposed the idea. Berlin also rejected it.

European Council President António Costa said on May 7 that EU leaders were ready to open talks with Russia. He stressed that Europe was prepared to take part in all negotiations on ending the war and had received the support of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Politico reported on May 18 that EU leaders were still discussing possible candidates to negotiate with Russia, but had not yet agreed on a single nominee.

The possible candidates included former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who rejected the prospect; Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who said he was ready to take on the role; and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who has broad standing in the EU. The report also mentioned Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.

Reuters, citing a German government official, reported on June 3 that a “window for dialogue” between Europe and Russia over the war in Ukraine is “slowly opening”.