Telegraph: Europe Weighs Five Leaders as Russia Negotiators
Europe is vetting potential negotiators for talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine, and five candidates, all presidents or prime ministers of European states, are currently under consideration, The Telegraph reported, citing diplomatic sources. European Pravda carried the report.
According to the newspaper's sources, the possible candidates have already been approached. The names under consideration are Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Czech President Petr Pavel, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
"Europe has realised that, first, there must be a consensus on the need to negotiate with the Russians. Second, there must be a consensus on exactly what that position should be," said a source familiar with the discussions.
Why a group of leaders
In recent weeks, as US President Donald Trump has been accused of pressing Kyiv to make concessions, calls for Europe to form its own negotiating team have grown. Earlier attempts to agree on a single leader who could win the backing of capitals across the continent failed. The source said a group of leaders will probably be chosen, which would avoid competition between countries for the role and the risk of vetoes against individual candidates.
Finland's Stubb has become a constant presence in European efforts to support Ukraine at the negotiating stage. He has strong ties with Trump and was recently in Oslo during talks between the Ukrainian president and US representatives. It is also being discussed that Czech President Pavel has a favourable profile for the role because of his past as a NATO commander with experience of military negotiations with the Russians.
Background
On the eve of the report, Politico wrote that the question of finding a European representative has become especially pressing this week after US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Russia. At the talks in Oslo this week, Stubb said the negotiating process was back on the right track. After his talks with Vladimir Putin in Russia and before returning to the US, Witkoff met Norwegian Prime Minister Støre.
Our earlier report on Zelensky expecting a briefing from Witkoff covers the US side of the diplomacy. More in our Politics section.