Europe Needs a Single Representative for Ukraine-Russia Peace Talks
According to The Economist, Europe needs to appoint a single representative to participate in the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. This person should be able to handle joint photo opportunities with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the presidents of Russia, the US and Ukraine, respectively.
Typically, European interests are represented by multiple individuals, but in this case, it is impossible, The Economist states. The Trump administration has already declared that it does not see European leaders as direct participants in the talks and Trump himself is unlikely to give a seat at the table to Europe, the magazine reports.
The Economist notes that French President Emmanuel Macron could take on this role, referring to him as a candidate for “Mr. Europe.” Macron has maintained a good relationship with Trump, as he claimed during a meeting at the White House on February 24. Before his trip to Washington, Macron consulted with European state and government leaders and convened two summits in Paris to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.
As The Guardian wrote, Macron was once considered Trump’s “European charmer.”
Macron’s main weakness is that he lacks the trust of hawks from Northern and Central Europe, The Economist says. Prior to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev, Macron spoke in favor of a “strategic dialogue” with Russia on security issues. At the same time, Macron was one of the first European leaders to suggest the deployment of troops to Ukraine.
Opponents of Macron as a candidate for the role of Europe’s negotiator could prefer Donald Tusk, the former president of the European Council and former Polish prime minister. Warsaw, however, gives more for defense than other NATO countries, with planned expenditures of 4.7% of its GDP in 2025, which could appeal to Trump’s supporters. Polish authorities, however, rule out the deployment of troops to Ukraine. Warsaw has a complicated relationship with the Ukrainian leadership and, as The Economist notes, Western European countries will not want a “militant” Tusk to act in their name.
Regarding the state and government leaders of other major European countries, The Economist states that the future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will have much to do, especially forming a government. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is not a strong supporter of Ukraine and the UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer could have been a bridge between the US and Europe, but the Brexit has isolated the UK from the EU, the magazine reports. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is an ideological ally of the US president, but she must figure out how to be both pro-Ukrainian and pro-Trump, according to The Economist.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the reaction of EU representatives to his conversation with Trump and the meeting of intermediaries from Russia and the US in Riyadh, saying, “But what do the Europeans have to do with it? It’s about bilateral Russian-American relations.”
According to Putin, Moscow does not reject the participation of European leaders in the talks as long as the Ukraine conflict is discussed based on the facts.