The United Kingdom does not support a proposal by the leaders of France and Italy to begin negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said.
“I think we need evidence that Putin genuinely wants peace, and at the moment I do not see that,” Cooper told Politico. According to her, Ukraine, together with the United States and Europe, is working on a peace plan, but Putin is still not ready to sit down at the negotiating table. In this regard, Cooper called for increased pressure on Moscow through economic sanctions and military support for Kyiv.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni had publicly urged the opening of diplomatic channels with Putin, despite the fact that talks initiated by the United States had “reached a dead end.” Against this backdrop, Politico sources said that EU countries have begun discussing the possible creation of a special envoy position to conduct negotiations with Russia on Ukraine. The sources noted that the initiative is intended to prevent a situation in which “the United States strikes a deal with Russia behind their backs.” Supporters of the idea believe that the presence of an EU special envoy at the negotiating table would help defend key positions, including Ukraine’s future membership in NATO.
A day earlier, on January 15, Putin said at a ceremony for the presentation of credentials by foreign ambassadors that Europe would sooner or later return to “normal constructive communication based on respect for national interests, taking into account security concerns.” According to him, “peace does not come by itself” but is built by people every day. “Peace requires effort, responsibility, and awareness, and a conscious choice. The relevance of this is obvious,” Putin said.
Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry had stated that the EU would have to reconsider its approach to Russia, arguing that Brussels’ sanctions policy toward Moscow is harming the bloc itself. The ministry expressed hope that dialogue would be restored after a change in the composition of the European Commission, which it said has its own “expiration date.”
