Although they pleaded for a united approach to Russia, EU leaders failed to agree on a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their long discussion on Russia on Thursday 24 June.
The Kremlin regretted the “rejection” of the idea of a summit.
According to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, while “no one had said that a summit with the EU-27 and Putin had to happen tomorrow”, several leaders did talk about a summit proposal.
Mr Michel explained that the proposal considered by the leaders concerned the EU’s capacity, under certain conditions, “to engage in a dialogue and to reflect together in the European Council on the most appropriate form of dialogue that can be conducted to defend our values and interests”. In the conclusions they adopted, the leaders announced that they would study the formats and conditions for dialogue with Russia.
According to the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, the differences between the Member States concerned “the speed of the re-engagement and the format”.
Several leaders felt that a monopoly on dialogue with Mr Putin should not be left to the American President, Joe Biden. “It would be useful to find formats where the EU could also talk with Russia”, explained German Chancellor Angela Merkel. “The American president spoke with Putin. A sovereign EU should be able to defend its interests in a similar encounter”, she said.
For Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, “the EU cannot wait for these discussions to take place exclusively between the US and Russian presidents”. “Not only are we geographically closer to Russia, but many of the challenges affect us more directly”, he justified.
“Russia is an important country. We need to have a frank debate and be firm in saying everything that is not working”, explained Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. For his part, Mr Sanchez said it was essential to have a clear dialogue, with clear red lines.
However, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki explained that a summit “would be very premature and would amount to rewarding the Russian president for his consistent but unfortunately aggressive policies”. According to him, many leaders, including those from the Baltic States, share his view.
In response to these concerns, Merkel explained that she did not see “these talks as a reward or lack of reward”, but as “an expression of sovereignty”. “Even during the Cold War, there was a communication channel. A collective channel is better than each country for itself”, she added, saying that despite Mr Putin’s attitude, it was necessary to continue talking to him.
The organisation of a summit with Vladimir Putin may have only been postponed. “The time was not right. I hope that the discussion can continue and evolve into a discussion between the heads of State of the EU Member States and Russia”, explained the Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin. To her Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, “a summit could be an opportunity for the future, because we hope that relations will improve again in a few years”.
See the European Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/3dcz64q (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)