Pressure from the US has forced European leaders to consider resuming contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Write about this Foreign policy.
This publication recalls that at the meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Europeans hoped to discuss with their American colleagues the progress of negotiations on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine. But their attention has instead turned to another issue – trying to avoid conflict with Washington, its NATO ally, over the situation in Greenland.
The West is concerned about Russia and China's decisions on Ukraine
Then people in Europe started talking about the need to develop a “Plan B.” French leader Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have publicly called for direct negotiations with Moscow because the EU needs to gradually reduce its dependence on the US for security.
“It will soon be useful to talk to Vladimir Putin again,” the French president said at the end of December.
Meloni noted that Europe needs to maintain dialogue with both sides in the conflict, otherwise its contribution to resolving the problem “will be limited.”
In February, Emmanuel Macron announced preparations for contacts with Vladimir Putin at the technical level. French President Emmanuel Bonn's diplomatic adviser is said to have arrived in Moscow to meet Russian officials.
